The Legend of Zelda: The Four Sacred Winds Book One: The Legend Begins
by Lheticus
Summary: Three years after Ganon's defeat in Wind Waker, a new shadow takes hold of the Forsaken Fortress-and the Hero of Winds is an ocean away! Those who remain in the Great Sea must rise to face this evil, but there may be more to recent events than it seems...Rated T for cartoon violence and characters legitimately dying. (Title BG by NimbusThunderhead of DA)
1. Prologue--Howling At the Moon

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Could not fit full title in the interface. Sorry! Also, what is WITH so many minor Wind Waker characters getting short shrift on this site?

The Legend of Zelda: The Four Sacred Winds

Book One-The Legend Begins, Prologue: Darknuts Howling At the Moon Means Doom

The land of Hyrule. Long ago, the Demon King Demise, sought to lay waste to this peaceful country. To do this, he commanded both a vast demonic army, and a great living weapon...a black sword of incredible dark power. In opposition to him stood the Goddess Hylia...but Demise's power was too great for her or her own forces to fully eradicate, and he and his forces were merely sealed away.

An unknown number of years passed...and one day, Demise's sword somehow managed to slip through the seal and reassume humanoid form. Calling himself "Demon Lord Ghirahim", he began machinations to return his master Demise to his former strength. However, it was not long before a hero, clad in green, rose to stop him. Though Ghirahim sought to hinder and destroy the hero at every turn, he claimed the Triforce before Demise could be revived, forcing Ghirahim to take extreme last second measures to complete his master's restoration. Even this was in vain, as the boy performed a feat Ghirahim had not thought possible-he defeated the revived Demise single-handed, ending his life like Hylia herself never could.

Although his life was ended, Demise's fury was not. He cursed the hero with his dying breath, giving him the ability to impose his desires on a series of powerful beings which would then hound the hero's descendants each in turn, until they too were vanquished. This process endured for several centuries.

Meanwhile, the shock of his master's death rendered Lord Ghirahim catatonic in his true sword form, unable to assume any other form or affect the world around him in any way. This reverie ended around the time the Dark Lord Ganondorf, the latest of the line of Demise's chosen at the time, set his plans in motion. However, Ghirahim's slumber had been long, and he did not have the strength to reassume his humanoid appearance.

Then, Ganondorf was defeated. By this time, Ghirahim had recovered enough power to sense that his master, from beyond the grave, had been thwarted yet again. The anger this gave him accelerated his recovery, and by the time Ganondorf was resurrected, Ghirahim was nearly strong enough to assume his former appearance. He was very eager to find Ganondorf and offer himself to him, reasoning that since Demise was dead, he would devote himself to the next best thing. But then, something that Ghirahim could never have anticipated happened...something that would devastate him and push his machinations back considerably. The remaining Hyrulean deities, beseeched by their followers, buried the entirety of Hyrule under several million cubic miles of water. At first, he despaired, until he sensed Ganondorf's presence in the magically preserved portion of Hyrule that Ghirahim also found himself in. He renewed his effort to recover with vigor...and soon, he regained his humanoid form at long last, albeit with a bare minimum of that form's former strength and abilities. However, he was again fated to be infuriated, this time by being too late to prevent the King of Red Lions from using the Triforce to dispel Hyrule's protection from the surrounding Great Sea. Nor did he arrive in time to assist Ganondorf against the hero's descendant-the very instant he reached the battle, he could only watch in horror as the descendant, who was an even younger child than the one who defeated him and his master, to his eternal rage and humiliation, impaled Ganondorf through his forehead. As he turned to stone, Ghirahim could sense that no force that existed could revive him. As the Great Sea closed in, he had no choice but to revert to his sword form and painstakingly float to the surface.

When he emerged from the depths of the Great Sea, he had formed the beginnings of a plan. His desire to be wielded by a master once more was all-consuming, but he no longer wanted Demise's agent to be the one to do this if such agents could be so dispatched by the descendants of the hero. He would need a way to ensure that his new master would not squander his powers. With this in mind, he willed himself as the sword to float in a specific direction...to Ganondorf's former base, the Forsaken Fortress.

It took a large amount of time and even more effort to reach the ruins of the Forsaken Fortress. Ghirahim had become extremely fatigued, and took a few days in his sword form to recover. An errant Moblin or two attempted to pick him up and wield him during this time, but he made it abundantly clear even to beings of such limited intellect that he would not allow himself to be subjected to such an indignity, via mild dark magic that manifested similarly to electric shocks. Once he regained his stamina, Ghirahim easily dispatched the larger-than-average Moblin that styled himself as the others' chief, and all the others immediately became his followers. This was a particularly lucky windfall for Ghirahim's plans-Moblin brand dumb muscle would lend itself to construction nicely, with proper supervision. As soon as he had the strength for such a spell, he used his magic to increase the island's diameter considerably. Then, he ran into a problem. The Moblins were indeed serving excellent as builders-in fact, they had already made considerable progress in the dismantling of the Fortress for building materials. However, the materials that would be gained when the deconstuction was complete would be woefully insufficient for his plans. Furthermore, if he was going to procure more, the best source of material was Old Hyrule, beneath the Great Sea, and such an operation required delicacy, and the Moblins had none.

Fortunately, the dismantling of the Forsaken Fortress had not gone unnoticed. Even more fortunately, by this time, the descendant had sailed off to parts unknown with the goal of founding New Hyrule, and no other heroes had risen-in other words, any righteous being with the capacity to investigate was too cowardly to do so. Beings that were less than righteous, on the other hand, had come in droves.

Darknuts were the first to arrive, for their senses were keen, and they eagerly flocked to investigate this power that they sensed was strong enough to direct them. Some of them brought relatively small groups of monsters with them, comprised of members of various species that those particular Darknuts had cowed into obedience. This delighted Ghirahim, who rewarded those Darknuts with supervisory positions, charging them with enforcing his will and keeping the lesser minions in line as well as from slacking off. A few of these were given direct command of a detachment comprised of one of the non-Moblin lesser species, charged with swelling Ghirahim's ranks of that species by any means necessary. The remainder stayed behind to supervise the Moblins and ensure they maintained the pace and quality of construction-a job that Ghirahim relished delegating rather than doing himself, as he had done to that point. He quite liked these Darknuts, he decided-they were hands down the most intelligent minions he'd had the pleasure of commanding. As for those Darknuts who came alone, he assigned them their more traditional role as elite guards-an occupation that they resumed with considerable relish.

Next came myriad varieties of seagoing monsters, extreme curiosity drawing them to the construction site's commotion en masse. By this point, Ghirahim had regained enough of his magic to enthrall them, rather than cowing them through force or attracting them with power. Among these were several scores of "Warship" monsters-he welcomed them into the fold even more eagerly than the rest, for he had not seen such a creature before, and knowing such things existed gave him inspiration at last as to how to solve his salvage problem. Not only had he recovered enough magic to control existing monsters, he could now, with difficulty, synthesize his own. This new monster type would have a complex role, and it took him several tries to create ones that had abilities sufficient to the task, but he eventually perfected the Clawsub-a monster that could operate under the Great Sea as well as on it, equipped with a hull-mounted Salvage Arm. Just in case, he also perfected a Warsub. This subset of his new Submarine line of monsters had the ability to launch heat-seeking torpedos to deal with potentially hostile indigenous creatures, and were given great resilience in case a heroic meddler did show up and somehow found a way to reach the depths of the Great Sea. He made sure to have twice as many Warsubs as Clawsubs so that an adequate escort formation was possible.

No sooner had he sent his new Submarines on their first mission than his Recruiter Darknuts returned...and the news was not good. Ghirahim had directed them to avoid detection in their efforts to gather more monsters, but this had failed utterly, and several Darknuts had even suffered losses. Darknuts were simply too conspicuous-one of the ones who suffered losses did so due to directing his troops to enact a diversion so that he could go undetected, and not only did this still fail, but the Darknut had gotten so deep into the island in question by the time of failure that he was unable to entirely escape before he was confronted. He'd slain his opponent and successfully escaped, but had sustained damage to his armor and lost his helmet in the process-the helmet's absence in particular being a mark of incomparable shame among Darknuts.

Ghirahim, try as he might to become utterly furious with this news, was unable to, a fact that astounded all present, including himself. He felt he SHOULD have been angry, but if he was totally honest with himself, that particular Darknut's tactics were extraordinarily impressive for a minion-particularly after the sheer idiocy of the types of minions he was more used to dealing with till now. He gave an order for all the Darknuts to assemble.

They obeyed, dutifully as usual, but to the Darknut without a helmet, Ghirahim gave a different order, as he was about to lumber off to the ordered assembly area. "Not you," he said, in its language, "you will arrive at the assembly when I do...and by my side." Darknuts were far and away the most intelligent of monsters, and this one was definitely one of the smartest of them, but his lord's pronouncement completely perplexed him. At first, he quaked in fear, assuming that he was going to be publicly executed. But the tone of his lord's order was totally inconsistent with this. It could have been a deception, the Darknut thought-perhaps his liege wanted to soften the blow, to placate him, preventing him from fleeing or performing a short-lived act of rebellion. However, one thing shot down this line of reasoning. We humans would translate the last thing Ghirahim said to him as "by my side", but this would be an error. Truthfully, while gruff, gutteral and primitive sounding, the Darknut language is remarkably nuanced. Ghirahim had actually used a very special native Darknut term, nigh sacred. Just one word, but the concept it describes is one of deepest respect. A Darknut using this term in reference another Darknut is essentially saying that he trusts that fellow member of their species with his life, that there was no other Darknut that he would have at his back, and that he would place this particular Darknut's well being over any other desire save the desire to complete a directive assigned by his lord. It was, in truth, the closest concept to love that Darknuts could comprehend. For one's lord to use such a term was beyond unheard of-and Ghirahim had used it in reference to him.

He walked right behind his liege, his monster mind reeling. This only added to his distress, as it was very unprofessional for a Darknut to be so distracted, and the last thing he wanted was further dishonor. Fortunately, Ghirahim was keeping an oddly slow pace, and he still kept up easily. As they reached the stage, he was directed to stand directly at Ghirahim's right, at attention. All his fellow Darknuts were already assembled. Some of them wore expressions of bloodlust beneath their helmets, anticipating the same thing he had been at first-not that he could see this. Ghirahim raised his right hand, and the Darknuts instantly fell silent, as signaled.

"My Darknuts," Ghirahim began, "most loyal and powerful of my minions, on this day each and every one of you, including the one up here, has something in common: You have all failed me. Yes, every single one." A highly uncharacteristic fearful tittering arose from his audience, who now feared that the one on stage would not be the only one executed tonight. Those of you I trusted with command duties abroad are already well aware of their failure. Those of you I did not...I have observed inexcusable sloppiness, from the highest Warden of the Moblins to the lowest Elite Guard. Something must be done."

Every single Darknut, onstage and in the audience, stopped their tittering, due to now being paralyzed with fear-no mean feat for even Ghirahim to accomplish. "I see you all. Every single one of you quaking with fear...and rightfully so. I'll deal with you all shortly. But first!" he said, turning to his companion on stage, "If any of you deserves the maximum punishment for this incompetence, surely the one here besides me does. He had the heaviest losses out of all of you I sent, and was the only one of you damaged in battle. He even lost his helm, which I understand that among your kind is a dishonor of the highest order."

The offending Darknut's dread mounted with every syllable his lord spoke. Miraculously, his composure held when he recalled the term Ghirahim had used. His liege wouldn't go to such lengths to string him along...would he? Ghirahim continued. "However! That is not all he has done. He has done several more things-and I feel they serve to vindicate him. Allow me to list them for you now." At these words, there was an astonished, though quiescent stir throughout the Darknuts, most of all the one on stage. "_He has shown initiative, and uncharacteristic cleverness._ He was the only one of you to even have a thought in his head concerning diversionary tactics. True, his implementation was flawed, but...baby steps."

"_He has inspired loyalty in those he commands._ Recall that a charge against him is his sustaining the most serious loss among the commanders. But through my connection to him I have seen the truth of the matter. His losses were heaviest because in the first minute or so of his peril, his troops, a band of Wingless Mothulas, covered his retreat from a fearsome foe with a veritable minefield of Morths, at great peril to themselves, and-and this is the important part, not only without being ordered to, in fact they were actually disobeying him! It took him that full minute to at last coerce them to retreat with him, during which time four Mothulas were lost. And it is well he did, for his troops efforts were entirely in vain. Before I continue the story, I note the first charge is now refuted."

All the Darknuts' astonishment had been growing throughout this part of the speech, again, the one his liege was now defending from his own accusations most of all. And Ghirahim was far from done. "As I said, the Mothulas' illicit efforts were completely in vain. Their commander's pursuer was able to catch him and deal several significant blows. But once again, there is more to this tale than it appears. How do any of you suppose he sustained his injuries?" Ghirahim paused for just a moment to get conclusive proof that none of them had any inkling, then continued, "I'll tell you all how. He ordered the remainder of his troops to the boats to face his foe alone! The second and final charge against him are grievous breaches of Darknut honor, true. But is it not also a paramount concern of Darknut honor to face one's foes alone, especially those worthy to face a Darknut? Is this not why he pleaded with his troops who were ready to give their lives for him to not do so? Yes, he has committed a serious breach of Darknut honor, but he also fought and successfully killed his assailant. Thus, _he has upheld his Darknut honor _in equal measure."

More titters, and now around a half dozen growls, from Darknuts who disagreed with this particular assessment despite themselves. "This directly refutes the other two charges against him. Thus, he will recieve no punishment. However...there is one final matter to consider. As I said, he faced his foe alone, and coincidentally or not, saved the lives of much of his command as a result. Therefore, _he has earned the loyalty that he inspires._ Which brings us to the crux of this meeting."

Ghirahim turned again to the Darknut on stage, who allowed himself a slight smile, which was still very toothy. "This Darknut has proven beyond a doubt that he possesses cunning, bravery, and honor leagues beyond any of you. Which is why I say to him, that when I give him this next order, he has nothing to fear, and everything to be proud of. Now...go and stand before the stage, between the crowd and it, and face me so that I may bestow upon you that which you deserve.

The Darknut's smile was gradually widening as he followed the command, and by the time he reached the spot Ghirahim indicated, it was its maximum possible toothy grin. He quickly wiped it off his face as he turned to face his liege, kneeling down in subservience. Ghirahim extended his arm towards him with a single outstrectched finger. From that finger, a beam of dark energy shot out of it, striking the Darknut in the chest, but it was not harming him at all. In fact, it was making him stronger, or at least larger, and his armor's plating was repairing itself. The design was also changing, gaining an ornate diamond pattern gilding and the overall color turning from normal steel to gold.

A genuine gasp issued from all the other Darknuts as the vulnerable spot on the back that all Darknuts shared in common melted away on his armor, and where it had been, a diamond shape that looked as though it was as hard and strong as actual diamond appeared. Through it all, he continued to grow larger, and did not stop until he was easily the size of one of the larger Hyrulian Boss class monsters. When it finally did, Ghirahim raised his arm skyward, finger still outstretched. A brilliant golden light orb descended from the sky, following where Ghirahim pointed his finger. As it descended, the light faded away to reveal an immaculate golden colored helm, with more diamond pattern gilding to match the armor, and one other decorative feature-a large diamond shaped gem at the very center of the brow in Ghirahim's exact favorite shade of red, which was, of course, blood. It eclipsed the Darknut's head perfectly. "This...this is what you deserve. Now...rise, my Darknut General!" Ghirahim said, feeling a rush of manic, psychotic elation for the first time in centuries.

"My lord," said the General in the Darknut language, as he rose, "This honor...I know no words to comprehend the height of it. My gratitude to you is unending."

"Yes, that is only natural...the Darknut language has no words for your rank...because you are the first of your kind."

"My lord!" The Darknut General was totally overcome at these words, displaying uncharacteristic emotion. It was lucky he had his helmet again and was facing away from the crowd, otherwise they could have seen the inky black tear that released from his eye, despite his best efforts to prevent it from forming.

"Isn't this wonderful! And I'm not even finished! It is with a heart brim full of rainbows for the first time since bygone days that I announce that the Darknut General is not the only one of you to recieve a reward tonight. You see...the blame for the failure of your mission was not on your own heads, but mine. I sent you on a mission that no Darknut, that no mere monster, would be capable of completing. If there is dishonor here, it is on my head as your lord for abusing you. Today this ends! My gift to you!"

Ghirahim shot his finger straight up skyward again, and more dark energy released, this time as a wave that enveloped not just the General, but the entire crowd of Darknuts. By the time the wave dissipated, the intelligence of every Darknut present except for the General tripled, and the General's brain expanded even more, making them able to speak Hylian, among other effects. Up until this point, they had all served Lord Ghirahim with total obedience and duty above all, as befit a Darknut. After this action they needed no code. They would follow Ghirahim anywhere, and do anything he said at all without the beginnings of a question forming in their minds. Their unwavering loyalty had crystalized into rapturous adoration. Never before had a Darknut served someone so worthy-which is why what happened next had not ever happened before. Each and every one of them, from the General to the lowliest elite guard, removed his helmet and kneeled. This was the ultimate gesture of Darknut respect and admiration, one signifying that their love for their lord was stronger than their love for their lives, their race, or even their honor. "Lord" was no longer a sufficient title in their eyes-to them, he was their complete and utter Master. If what Ghirahim had said to his General before the speech began was a Darknut's understanding of love, this was a Darknut's understanding of worship. In the entire history of Hyrule, Ghirahim was the first being to ever command this level of Darknut respect.

As such, Ghirahim was unaware of this custom, until his general explained to him his part in the ritual that had commenced. "Speak, my Darknuts!" Ghirahim intoned, "Tell all of Hyrule, from the lowliest fish below to the Goddesses high above...WHO IS YOUR MASTER!" This was a slight deviation from the usual phrasing-it was theoretically supposed to reference "the lowliest worm" not fish, but under the current geographical circumstances it worked far better. The de-helmeted Darknuts worked themselves into a frenzy, chanting at the top of their considerable lungs, "Ghiiiiiirahim! Ghiiiiiirahim!" This repeated about five times, then every single one of them pointed their snouts skyward, directly at the moon. It was not full, in fact it was barely a sliver of a crescent, but that made no difference. "Arooooooooooooo!" The howl, which had never before been heard by any Hyrulean entity, goddess or mortal, was long and sustained, and carried across the Great Sea in all directions. A chill immediately ran through the spine of anyone awake to hear it, and anyone not awake to hear it was tormented by nightmares until morning.

"Come, General," said Ghirahim after the ritual was complete, "we have much to discuss."


	2. Chapter 1--A Real Man of the Sea

The Legend of Zelda: The Four Sacred Winds

Book One-The Legend Begins, Chapter I: A Real Man of the Sea

Outset Island-Roughly 3 Years after Wind Waker

It had been about two weeks since Orca's death during the shocking surpise raid. He had organized the island's defenses with crisp effectiveness, and had been a sight to behold spearheading the counterattack and the push to drive the monsters back. However, everything turned for the worse when the leader, a Darknut, turned and rallied while the monsters with him continued to retreat. The other scant few defenders had been balked by a large number of Morths that had been laid in their path, so Orca faced down the Darknut alone. It was an epic struggle-one blow Orca struck in particular managed to remove the Darknut's helmet. However...it was shortly after that that his age at last caught up with him. The Darknut disarmed him when he countered what was to be Orca's last harpoon strike, and slew him.

Aryll relived the whole thing while Orca's brother Sturgeon rambled through a slightly sardonic, though heartfelt eulogy. She hadn't been one of the defenders, but she, along with the other villagers who weren't capable of fighting had all seen that horrific moment that the Darknut's sword stuck through Orca's aged chest before it got away. Things turning for the worse had been a running theme in the Great Sea lately, Aryll thought as the eulogy reached an impassioned climax. The Moblins at the Fortress organizing again...the bizarre partial dismantling of that fortress that still seemed to be progressing rapidly was an omen of change, and not the good kind. Their island's was not the only Darknut-led raid in recent days, though it was the only one with a casualty...so far.

Aryll's face was grim. Tomorrow would be her birthday, and she would be the same age that her big brother was when he got the special outfit...and her being abducted had set a remarkable series of events in motion. It was slightly against tradition, as girls technically were not supposed to receive what had been dubbed the "Hero's Clothes" but she had asked her grandmother to make a set for her for tomorrow out of admiration for her brother. Originally, she planned to wear it just on her birthday, and then maybe a few times after that, for occasions where she could recount the tale of her rescue. Now, however, her plan was to put it on in a more symbolic way...and then follow in her brother's footsteps.

She had fashioned a wooden sword the very day after Orca's death, and practiced with it for hours at a time in secret. She had all the basic motions down, but hadn't quite mastered the Spin Attack and had no idea how to practice the Parry Attack for a lack of live targets and so could not do it at all. Of course, a wooden sword would be very little use anywhere she was likely to go-what she needed was the Hero's Sword. She was one of just a handful of Outset Islanders who knew that the one her brother left with was not the original one. Orca had fashioned a better blade that looked nearly identical, and gave it to him as a parting gift. The original Hero's Sword, he had hidden, but with all the preparations for today's funeral, there had been no opportunity to search his room for any clues. Tomorrow, that would hopefully end.

As for how to leave the island and go to others...Aryll was basically winging it and hoping a way would turn up. Quite a few people had come from other islands for the funeral-a few even came all the way from places like Windfall and Dragonroost islands. She'd pleaded with each and every one of them to stay a few days after so she could find the sword and either get permission to go with them or stow away, but it was no use. Still, one step at a time, she thought.

Orca was gone, and now buried. There had been some debate as to whether to dig a grave or send the coffin floating on the Great Sea, and in the end those arguing on the chances of the body being subject to indignities, such as the pecking of seagulls, won out. His harpoon had been converted into his grave marker. The crowd of mourners was dispersing-Aryll had no reason to remain. It was slow going back to the house-her grandmother had become even more frail over the past three years and now required assistance traveling even moderate distances from her house, or indeed her armchair. As soon as her needs were fully taken care of, Aryll dashed away from her grandmother toward Orca and Sturgeon's house, and into the lower entry, which had been Orca's room. She rummaged around in all the obvious hiding places, and a couple not so obvious ones, but found nothing. Despondent, she turned to leave-and saw Sturgeon blocking the doorway.

"Well if it isn't little Aryll. What could she be looking for? Perhaps this?" He waved the bottle with a message in it in his hand. "He said it was a clue to something important, something that should only be used by someone trustworthy. Now what do you suppose that could be?"

Aryll was having none of this teasing. "How long have you known what I've been up to?"

"Not the whole time, if that's any consolation. For the first week or so my grief prevented me from noticing a thing. Eventually though, I managed to spy on one of your little practice sessions. Of course, that was after I noticed the look in your eyes you've had lately...very much like your brother's on the day Tetra landed and he first claimed what you now seek."

Aryll blushed, taking the last remark as a compliment. "So...can I have the clue?"

"Certainly," said Sturgeon, uncorking the bottle and handing her the paper, "It may also interest you to know that a remarkably bizarre ship was sighted docking in Windfall yesterday, piloted by a man seeking this very island, among other things. At least, that's what I overheard from our visitors from there. If the time they said he departed was accurate, he should be arriving before the day is out. It seems fated to me...I'd get a move on finding that sword before meeting him if I were you-I seriously doubt you'll have a better chance to get passage to other islands than him. After all, he claims to have news of your brother, and to personally know him."

"Oh! If that's who it looks like it is...Big Brother wrote about him to me! You're right, I'll never have a better chance!" She carefully unrolled the paper-it was a map of the Fairy Woods at the top of the island, with an X marking a spot. Sturgeon, looking over her shoulder, said, "You'd better bring that wooden sword of yours along-the Bokoblins have been getting ornery ever since..." he trailed off.

"Okay...I'll be careful," said Aryll, rushing off to get her wooden sword. Once she got it, she made for the Fairy Woods. The tree barricade had been uprooted shortly after her brother left, for the woods had quieted completely. There hadn't been time since Orca's death to replant one-but now the funeral was done, this would not last. This would be her only chance.

She was harassed by a Miniblin or three along the way, but even her wooden sword had enough power to deal with them with ease. She came to the bridge, crossing carefully, and entered the woods. She unrolled the map again, and it seemed to her that the spot with the X would be easily reached. She found no resistance as she headed toward it-a fact that would have made her suspicious had she more experience. In due course, she reached a log that a person her size could crawl through-according to the map, the sword was hidden in the center of this natural tunnel. She entered, but didn't see anything-no sword, not even a rupee.

She emerged from the log on the other side-and found herself surrounded by a trio of Bokoblins. The two on either side of her grabbed her by the arms, and started carrying her off to who knows where. She struggled, but was not strong enough to break free. "Aaaaah! Big Brother!" she cried out. _What am I doing?_ she thought, _Big Brother isn't here...if I'm gonna be saved this time I'll have to do it myself_. Then, she noticed something that made her mad-the 3rd Bokoblin, who seemed to be giving the two holding her orders, was wearing the missing Hero's Sword! She found reserves of strength she hadn't yet realized she had, and broke the Bokoblins' grip on her, backing away and drawing her wooden sword. Enraged, the two that had been holding her came at her-the one with the sword seemed more interested in barking orders while foaming at the mouth for the moment. Therefore, it was two on one, but their Boko Sticks were no better than Aryll's own weapon, and she was more skilled with hers. (This isn't saying much because, you know, Bokoblins.)

After a significant amount of bonks to the face each, the pair died with the usual poofs of dark magic. Only...was it her imagination, or did the color of the magic being released look different? She thought she was imagining it in the battle where Orca died, since she was seeing it at a distance then, but now she was sure of it. Before, the black smoke had a shadowy, purple tint to it, but now, that tint was closer to a deep, blood red.

She was given no further time to think on this, as the Bokoblin with the Hero's Sword now advanced on her. It was angry that its flunkies had been beaten, but was coming at her more confidently and less recklessly, its spirits buoyed by the sword in its hand and the thought of its superiority to her own weapon. Realizing this, Aryll's own spirits sank in proportion-a few too many blocks and her sword would surely break being put up against a proper one. She dodged, weaved, and maneuvered, looking for an opening. It came when her foe's confidence became overconfidence, and he readied a rather melodramatic thrust. Seizing her chance, she performed her first ever Parry Attack, and for what it was worth, she executed it perfectly, rolling behind him just as he made the thrust and striking with vigor. The force was enough to knock the Bokoblin flat. Unfortunately, it was also enough to snap her wooden sword in half. However, the Hero's Sword was now free of her enemy's grip and lay several yards away from his prone form. She scrambled to get to it before he got up. As she first picked it up, she couldn't help herself-she did her best imitation of her brother's "Item Get" pose. She thought she could almost hear a strange fanfare and a message "You got the Hero's Sword! ...But is this really the time?" in her head.

Meanwhile, the Bokoblin recovered. Now it was really steamed-it had lost its cohorts AND its shiny sword in one fell swoop. With its composure gone and a genuine sword in Aryll's hand, it was easily dispatched. Aryll quickly made her exit before more monsters would come, drawn by the commotion. Sturgeon greeted her at the place where the barricade would be. "I see you were successful-and not a moment too soon. That strange ship just docked-we'd better hurry, rumor has it he likes to make a grand entrance."

They hurried to the pier, and Aryll realized that Sturgeon wasn't kidding when he said the ship was "remarkably bizarre"-indeed, it was the oddest vessel she'd ever seen, and she'd seen one that could talk-but this one didn't even seem to have a sail! They reached the pier just as the ship's gangplank extended. The vessels owner walked out onto it-or more accurately, strode. His face was...rather unattractive, but the rest of him was not half bad, as it was totally covered in extremely elegant sailor clothes. He carried a cane that looked made of expensive wood, topped with a (undoubtedly glass facsimile of) purple rupee. "I, a real man of the sea, have arrived-do hold your applause," he said.

The reactions greeting this pronouncement were mixed at best. Aryll overheard the term "windbag" several times, as well as many general doubts to the truth of the man's rumored exploits and associations with their absent hero. At this, he became flustered...until he spotted Aryll. "Aha! You...you're his sister, aren't you? He told me a few things about you on our between temple voyages."

Aryll beamed. "That's me! Hiya Mr. Linebeck!"

At the mention of his name, Linebeck laughed gaily. "And I see he in turn has told you some things about me!"

"Yep! He wrote to me lots the first year after he left. The letters stopped for a while after the first few, but after that he told me all about his adventures in the Ocean King's realm...with you." Aryll's confirmation of this rumor quieted nearly all the gathered naysayers-and Linebeck took notice. Milking the moment, he went on, "Indeed so! I imagine I must have been mentioned in a lot of those letters. Just, erm...what exactly has he said about me?"

"Well..." Aryll hesitated, "his first mention of you said you were, quote, 'A pompous, egomaniacal buffoon who literally couldn't swing a sword to save his life, much less navigate a dungeon, and if I see any chance to hitch a boat ride with ANYONE else I'll take it'..." Linebeck looked crestfallen at this, and his detractors got a major second wind, laughing, but Aryll went on, "But his last letter said you'd changed a lot...that you only faked courage before, but that by the time he defeated Bellum, you really had it. That...you'd earned the title that you'd self proclaimed...'True man of the sea'."

"See? See?" said Linebeck to the naysayers, but this time, they weren't buying it. "But...but it's true!" Aryll said, "I still have the letter! Hang on, I'll go get it." She dashed to her room and dragged out the chest that she kept most of her treasures in-besides the entire collection of letters from Big Brother, there were a few other mementos as well as an actual purple rupee. She found the letter she was looking for, and as an afterthought, she took the purple rupee out as well. She heard another jingle, a different one, and another message in her head "You got a Purple Rupee! That's worth 50 Rupees. That's just great!"

She paused, considering, then brought out another, larger chest. This one had a treasure she valued too much to put it with the others. Light streamed from it as it opened, and when she took the contents, she found herself doing her brother's pose again, hearing the 1st jingle again along with ANOTHER mental message... "You got the Spyglass! This is your most precious belonging. Don't lose it!"

"There it is again..." she muttered, then hurried back to Linebeck. It was once again in the nick of time-the crowd now looked as though they'd be throwing rotten fruit at Linebeck if there had been any on hand. She opened the letter, and a hush fell as she began.

"Dear Sis,

I'm so glad to be writing you this letter, because it means that my latest quest is over, and I can finally send you all the letters I've stored away while on it. This is the final chapter of the story.

Linebeck piloted his ship, going toe to toe with the Ghost Ship, which was even more fearsome since Bellum had possessed it, at great risk to both his ship and himself, while I manned the guns. I would never have been able to handle piloting and shooting at that thing at the same time all by myself, but since we worked together, we managed to win and scuttle the Ghost Ship. But what happened next...I never expected it. Bellum had been weakened, but not destroyed. It latched on to Linebeck, and a final act of free will before being possessed, he threw the Phantom Sword over to me. Ciela, with her true powers awakened, lent me her power one last time, and I was able to vanquish Bellum once and for all. With that done, the Ocean King's power was restored, and he resumed his true, glorious form.

And so the time came for Linebeck to claim his wish as the Ocean King promised. Ciela, ever the snarker, assumed he was going to ask for treasure, and honestly I did too-he could've gotten piles and piles of it. But see...his ship had been sunk during Bellum's final ambush...and Linebeck wished it raised from the depths. It was then that I finally saw that this adventure had done him a world of good. He always said he was a "Real man of the sea"...but now, starting at that moment, he really was one, for a sailor's ship is his soul, and he finally saw that. Before, I would rather have had anyone else alongside me on an adventure...but now, there's no one else I would rather have...except maybe Tetra. If Linebeck ever hears about these thoughts, tell him...that I miss him, and I hope that whatever he's doing, he's doing it well and with the courage he found."

The signature was smudged. Aryll could have filled in the blank, but she was too choked up. This was nothing compared to Linebeck's reaction-silent, a veritable river of sentimental tears streamed down his face. When he eventually recovered, he said "Aryll...I don't suppose I could...be a guest of you and your grandmother tonight? I'd very much like to know what your brother was up to up until the point where I heard news of him."

"Of course, Mr. Linebeck." Linebeck stepped through the awed crowd, and followed her to her house. Once Linebeck and Aryll's grandmother had been introduced, Linebeck and Aryll went upstairs, where they stayed up half the night reading her brother's letters together.


	3. Chapter 2--A Fond Farewell

The Legend of Zelda: The Four Sacred Winds

Book One-The Legend Begins, Chapter II: A Fond Farewell

Outset Island-The Next Morning

Aryll had done it. She had secured passage off of Outset Island with Linebeck. Last night, at first they had discussed only his brother, but Aryll eventually managed to turn the topic of conversation to his business in the Great Sea. As luck would have it, he'd actually been sent by none other than her Big Brother! It turned out that he'd made landfall on an unexplored continent some months ago. Meanwhile, Linebeck had been drifting, a sort of ship-and-swordarm for hire traversing the islands between and hunting various treasures in his spare time. It was in that course, at a random tavern on a random island, that rumors of renewed Forsaken Fortress activity had reached his ears. He'd stopped at Outset to renew his supplies for the extended investigation, and Outset specifically rather than some other island to deliver news of Aryll's brother's travels to the natives he left behind.

From there, it had been a simple matter for Aryll to convince him to let her join the expedition-he had not heard much about the Darknut raids during his time on Windfall, and Orca's death genuinely shocked and saddened him upon learning of it. That, combined with the fact that Aryll wore both her big brother's old sword and his heroic expression, made Linebeck incapable of refusing. He agreed to provide a spare shield for her in exchange for the letter she'd read aloud earlier, and she agreed-Linebeck had parted ways from her big brother over a year ago, and it was a most fitting memento.

Now, Aryll had only one more obstacle to overcome, and she could begin her journey-and as that obstacle was convincing her own grandmother not to worry, she was dreading it most of all. Upon waking, however, her grandmother was not in the house. She looked outside and saw Linebeck helping her grandmother walk. "'Hoy Mr. Linebeck, what're you up to with grandma? I'd heard you were some kind of Cassanova, but this..."

"Wh-what?! You think me and...geez, talk about May December-" was as far as Linebeck got before noticing Aryll's mirthful expression. "Oh ha, ha, HA! You're starting to remind me of a certain annoying bit of glitter."

"Aryll, be nice! Linebeck here was just helping me get my morning walk, since you slept late, and telling me all about why he's come. By the way...he's been dropping hints that you want to go with him...something about avenging Orca's death."

Aryll's look shot daggers at Linebeck, and had they been real he would have been gored to the point of overkill. Nevertheless, she decided to go for broke. "Not just to avenge Orca. All the bad stuff going on at the Fortress...if no one steps in the entire Great Sea might be destroyed! I...I need to be a part of it, like my big brother before me."

Her grandmother sighed. "I know, child...I'm seeing him in you now, even with my aged eyes. I...never told either of you this but Goddesses know your grandfather, rest his soul, was the same exact way. So unlike your parents...I suppose the adventurous spirit skipped a generation. It's time I stopped clinging to you both so hard. If my precious butterfly needs to fly on away...so be it."

Tears welled up in Aryll's eyes. "You...haven't called me butterfly since I was 5! Not even big brother knows about that nickname..."

"It's all right Aryll..." her grandmother said, reacting to the tears. Linebeck helped her get closer to Aryll as she ran in for a hug. "It's all right. Now, I need you to dry those tears for me, we've got a lot of planning to do for tonight."

"Planning?" said Aryll.

"Yes...this island, indeed the entire Great Sea has had such little to celebrate these days, and now, little Aryll is sailing off with the capable Linebeck nearly on the very day of her coming of age to beat back a threatening evil...just like her brother before her, as you said. I hardly think a better excuse for a party could be found these days."

"I dunno...maybe we should leave right away," said Aryll, but Linebeck dissuaded her. "My ship won't be fully supplied till tomorrow," he said, "you should enjoy your last day before leaving home as much as you can...you probably won't be back for a long time." _ If at all,_ they both thought, preferring to leave the notion implied rather than spoken.

By close to sunset, everything had been arranged, and all the islanders turned up on the beach. There was music and dancing for general merriment, delicous party platter foods and an even more delicious cake that nearly all present including the two children had come together to produce, and a respectably large bonfire. Even Beedle had set his ship ashore from its usual orbit around the island and closed up shop for the occasion-though he still took any opportunity to pitch his wares. Aryll was indeed enjoying it all quite a bit-it was making her sad to leave in the morning.

The sun set, the only light on the island now was provided by either the bonfire or the moon. As they gathered in close to it, Aryll's grandmother announced that it was time for presents. The quartet of villagers sometimes disparagingly known as the "pig family" stepped forward first. "We're basically all giving you the same gift, really-we all worked together on it," said Abe.

"Yeah, dad cut our grass, then Mesa's grass, then a lot more grass all over looking for them, and me and Zill helped!" said Joel, while Zill only nodded. His allergies had finally stabilized a year ago, but he had grown terribly shy to everyone but his brother Joel.

"And I had our prize hog dig up lots of places to get more," said Rose, the only islander who could control the mammothian swine. The four of them were, of course, talking about Rupees. They had raised such a sum that there was still quite a lot left over after Aryll's wallet had filled completely to 200. "There's still quite a lot where that came from dear, so if you run out just send word through the post service and we'll send more."

Next was the island's sole lone wolf, Mesa. He carried a shovel, not wrapped but with a large bow around the handle. "I never use it anymore...maybe it'll be useful," he said. As Aryll took it, she once again did the "Item Get" pose, and heard in her head, "You got the Shovel! Use it to dig wherever X marks the spot! You can dig in other places too, but then what you'll find is down to luck." She came out of the pose, blushing in embarassment. Most of the villagers looks were awkward, but Sturgeon's and her grandma's were thoughtful, while Linebeck looked downright wistful.

After that was Sturgeon and his granddaughter Sue-Belle. Sue-Belle presented her gift first-the Empty Bottle that Orca's clue had been in. She held it out, but Aryll hesitated. "A...bottle? Really?"

Sue-Belle wagged her finger. "They're really useful you know, plus they're a lot harder to come by than you'd think. They can hold potions and even fairies! There's no better item to have with you for tight spots."

"All right, if you say so," Aryll said, taking it. She did the item pose again-she was getting used to having this unusual compulsion by now. It was awkward, but not really inconvenient. She could wait until after her quest to talk to a therapist about it. Again came a message: "You got an Empty Bottle! They can be used to hold all sorts of helpful things!"

Next was Sturgeon himself. He walked forward solemnly, holding a large worn paper. "This is one of your brother's old things...a complete Chart of the Great Sea, with the location of every single island and landmark already marked. He gave it to me for safekeeping and to help with my researches...but you have greater need of it now. Use it well."

Aryll was slightly awed by this gift. "Thank you...I promise I will," she said, taking it. There was no compulsion to do the pose this time, but there was a message in her head: "Your Sea Chart is now completely filled in! This is quite a generous gift!"

Finally, her grandmother came forward, with the only gift she had actually expected to recieve that day-the Hero's Clothes. "Usually this is where some kind of speech would be made, but I really don't feel like it." She waited for Aryll to finish her pose, then said with a smile, "Now go to the house and change. I'm sure everyone here very much wants to see how it looks on you." She nodded, and half dashed, half skipped to her house. She got changed, and was looking in a mirror she'd had put in her room after her brother left when she head several screams. Not wasting any time, she rushed back to the beach as fast she could. The rest of the villagers were cowering from half a dozen jelly-looking things, half of them red, half green.

"What are you two doing?" she asked Abe and Mesa, "You fought alongside Orca that day, you can take these! And what's Linebeck up to?"

"Sorry Aryll...we left our weapons at our homes," said Abe, "And Chu-Chus can't be killed with bare fists. We've been keeping them away from the others, but that's the best we can do. And...just before they attacked, your grandma sent Linebeck to fetch your surprise gift. I'm sorry."

"Well then," she said, drawing the Hero's Sword, "looks like it's up to me." She slashed at the closest Chu-Chu, a red one, extinguishing it. Instantly the other five stopped and oriented on her. They, like all Chu-Chus, were clumsy beasts and could do little more than jump at her. However, while this was all true, they were unusually coordinated. She destroyed the other two Red Chu-Chus easily, but a moment later, the three Green Chu-Chus jumped at her at the same time in a triangle formation. There was only one way out. Aryll waited for just the right timing, then unleashed a Spin attack. She was dizzy and unable to defend herself afterwards, but this did not matter-the attack had struck true, killing all three Chu-Chus at once. There was no one left to attack her.

"Bravo!" said Linebeck once Aryll recovered, his voice coming from some distance behind. He was carrying an extremely ornate wooden box that was covered with relief sculpture on every surface that detailed various parts of her brother's quest to defeat Ganondorf. Someone laid a towel down, and Linebeck set the box down on it. "Mustn't get sand on it-once you've gotten at the contents I know of over a dozen collectors and museum curators who would pay a mint in rupees for art of this caliber-and if I get them all in the same auction house I could make multiple mints in rupees off of it. She said that if I carried it once you went to change I could have it. Oh don't give me that look," he said, noting the metaphorical daggers in Aryll's eyes, "you handled things excellently. Someday you may be as skilled as your brother."

That was the exact right compliment to placate her. "So...what are the contents?"

Her grandmother answered. "Most of his old things from his first adventure were lost, one way or another, as you know. But...I did manage to hold onto a few things. They will make a most helpful start to your own collection of items." And with that, Linebeck lifted the lid, setting it on the towel next to the opened box. Aryll peered inside...and the memories brought back threatened to overwhelm her. Out of all the tools her brother had collected, only two were inside-the Spoils Bag and the Boomerang. She took them one at a time, going through the pose as quickly as possible each time and paying no attention to the messages in her head.

"I'm...getting sleepy," said Aryll, "I'll want to make a nice, early start tomorrow, so I'll need a good night's sleep. All the villagers bid her goodnight, and she fell into bed quickly and fell asleep even quicker. She dreamed as well...and it was not a remotely pleasant dream. She and Linebeck were stranded in the middle of the Great Sea, not in Linebeck's own ship but in a lousy rowboat that the two of them barely fit on without causing it to sink. The Forsaken Fortress was in view in the distance. The skies were clear, though, and the sea calm...but then a maniacal laugh pierced the air. Aryll had never heard a more disturbing sound in her life! Now storm clouds were rolling in faster than it should have been possible-completely filling the sky in under half a minute. The seas roiled, and to call the rain "torrential" would have been an understatement. The dingy dingy would be sunk in mere minutes at this rate. Both Aryll and Linebeck bailed furiously, but they could do no more than keep the already deep water level from rising. Too late, Aryll noticed that Windfall Island was not far off shore, though still much too far to swim. There was no way she'd be able to row there and bail at the same time, and the same was true for Linebeck. However, the tumultuous ocean seemed to be pushing the boat closer to Windfall anyway, so Aryll held out hope...

But then, the dark storm clouds directly above Windfall somehow got even darker, a second laugh joined the cacophony-and to add horror to horror, Linebeck was now floating out of the rowboat towards Windfall. "Linebeck, come back! I'll drown here without you!" Aryll screamed, very nearly completely overcome by panic and terror. Linebeck turned back to face her, but was still floating away-he looked as though he was ensorcelled by the darker clouds. Aryll somehow bailed even faster, but it just wasn't enough to more than slow down the rowboat's water intake. Somehow, it filled almost to the brim with water without sinking, but an instant later, the ensorcelled Linebeck touched down on Windfall's sands...and the boat was immediately struck by lightning, but it somehow did not hit her, instead reducing the boat to cinders and flinging Aryll hight into the air. She could withstand no more. She shut her eyes tightly, more scared than she'd ever been in her entire life, waited for the end that impact with either land or sea would bring...

And woke up in her bed. It was morning, but for now she was too stunned with terror to move a finger. _Oh Goddesses...I didn't even know nightmares could be that horrible!_ she thought. In due course, her paralysis faded and she emerged from her bedroom, though she still somehow remembered the dream in vivid detail. In short order, she boarded Linebeck's ship, and they sailed off, the scene bearing a remarkable resemblance to when her brother had first departed Outset. "So," Linebeck said, "here's my plan for investigating the Forsaken Fortress..."


	4. Chapter 3--A Hostile Hellow

The Legend of Zelda: The Four Sacred Winds

Book One-The Legend Begins, Chapter III: A Hostile Hello

The Great Sea-Sector E4

Linebeck's plan was a rough framework at best so far. They would first make landfall on Windfall Island, to look for any possible piece of merchandise that would help Aryll sneak into the Forsaken Fortress. Once the blanks in that step were filled in, she would infiltrate the Fortress and gather whatever data she could, particularly any nuggets that concerned the identity of the island's new leader, and make her escape. The holes that needed to be filled in with this plan were numerous, but Aryll had no better ideas. However, as they crossed into Sector D4, Aryll felt that her dream needed mentioning, since both Windfall and the Fortress had featured in it.

"Hmm..." said Linebeck, "Before I met your brother I'd have dismissed such a thing as superstitious foolishness, but...a dream of an extremely dire situation concerning both of the places we will shortly be going is far too coincidental to actually be a coincidence. We should proceed as though we are dealing with a dream with prophetic elements. As far as I see it, those elements are: First, extreme peril to us both, represented by the rowboat, the storm, and the lightning strike-I mean, talk about being up a creek without a paddle! Second, indications that somehow there will be an attempt to turn me against you, represented by my magic-induced betrayal. I will have to be most vigilant. Then finally, and most disturbing, the presence of not one, but two major entities acting against us, represented by the two laughing voices. You...ARE sure that there were two voices?"

"Positive," said Aryll. She managed no more outward thoughts, as this latest pronouncement stunned her-she had been too shocked from the overall nightmare at the time to come to the same conclusion, and the truth of it worried her greatly. _Two different evil forces?! And they are able to fight us instead of each other, if the dream is right...am I over my head here?_ she thought.

"Then...our quest has already become much more complicated than I thought. But what I don't know is why your dream indicates that this second evil's shadow is cast over Windfall Island. Why, I was just there not even a week ago...what in the world?! Windfall shouldn't even be visible from here, we haven't even gotten through D4! What...is that structure? It's massive-and it wasn't even there when I was last here, nobody could've built that quickly!"

Aryll saw it too, and got out her Spyglass. "Looks like it was built on the spot the lighthouse should be on," she said, setting it to maximum zoom. "That's weird... there's like, lots of colorful lights on it." As they got closer, it became clear that this was putting it mildly. The tower was totally covered in dozens, hundreds of festive lights-on top of that, there was the fact that it had retained its functionality as a lighthouse. The lighthouse light was off, as it was daytime, but all the other lights were on. Once they'd docked, they had no time to look around before they were greeted by a man in an elegant suit and fedora. The suit was very tasteful, yet confusing to look at in detail if you tried-it was entirely black, but in many different shades which formed patterns which seemed to meander all over with no rhyme or reason. Finally, he carried a cane similar to Linebeck's, but painted black and topped with a round, many faceted crystal. Aryll almost thought she could make out a golden object inside. She also noted that there didn't seem to be any other islanders around that they could see. She made sure her right hand stayed very close to the hilt of her sword.

"Welcome to Windfall Island!" said the man, and Aryll took a closer look at the man's face. It was incredibly beautiful, and free of wrinkle, blemish, or flaw-if one ignored his eyes. They were completely black, devoid of iris and sclera. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am known as a man of incredible wealth and impeccable taste...Saligula." A shiver ran down Aryll's spine at the mere pronouciation of this name, and she struggled to not let him see it. Beyond a doubt, this was their second major foe. "I am the proprietor of Windfall Tower, the most luxurious retreat in several hundred nautical miles. I would be so delighted if you would consider lodging there. I can escort you right now, if you wish."

Aryll's heart sank to new depths, but only for a moment, as a glance from Linebeck told her that he wasn't being fooled. "Perhaps later my good man," he said, which Aryll now knew was an act, "I'll take a look around the rest of the island first, if you don't mind."

Saligula looked briefly surprised, but hid it very quickly. "As you wish. I will await your visit with great anticipation." He gave a slight bow and strode off.

As soon as he was out of sight, four boys emerged from various hiding places. One wore a red cap and blue shirt, and had an unremarkable face. One had hair spiked to look rather like fox ears, and an enlarged nose. The third had blue hair and was slightly better dressed than the others, and the last wore overalls and had an even larger nose. They all looked about as old as Aryll was during her brother's adventure. The boy in the cap spoke up. "Mister, I don't know how you stopped him from taking you, but come with us if you want to live. You too kid."

"Who're you calling-" started Aryll, but Linebeck stopped her. "We should follow them-it seems they know quite a lot about what's really going on here." It was a good point, so Aryll followed Linebeck, who followed the quartet to a nearby building. They went inside, and Aryll suffered misgivings. "A...jail? Just who are you kids?"

"We're the Killer Bees...otherwise known as the Windfall Island Resistance," said the boy in the cap, "the Queen Bee will want to meet you...and especially your sword," he said to Aryll, then to Linebeck, "The jail cell is only a front for our true hideout, and...the tunnel that leads to it is too tight a fit for an adult. I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait here-it's too dangerous for us to talk more in this room. The girl will have to come alone."

"I have a name, you know-it's Aryll," she said, and this apparently gave the Killer Bees a start. "Aryll?!" said the overalls kid, "Are you...THE Aryll? The great hero's sister?"

"That's right," she said.

More astonishment greeted this. "We should take you to the Queen Bee right away! This could be just the break the Resistance needs...if you're telling the truth," said the fox-haird boy.

"Well, go on then," said Linebeck, patting her on the back-though she could swear he also slipped something into her pockets-"best not to keep this mysterious ruler waiting." The blue haired boy jumped to the top of a barrel that was one of a significant collection of them near the back-left corner of the area of the room outside the jail cell. He walked deftly on top of the other barrels, then stepped on what must've been a switch obscured by them, which opened the cell door. There were more barrels in the cell itself, some of which were being moved by the other three Killer Bees to make a path for Aryll to a crawlspace hole that was now visible. The boy in the hat went in first, saying, "Follow me. It's a total maze inside and if you go the wrong way you'll be dumped into the drink." Aryll went in next, followed by the other three Killer Bees, the last of which replaced the barrels behind them.

"Wow..." said Aryll as they made the third change of direction so far, "this is a really good hideaway. How did you find out about these tunnels?"

"The Queen Bee knew about them," said the hat boy, "they've been here a long time. Saligula and his minions will never find this-it's the only safe place left on Windfall." After two more turns, they came to an extremely long straightaway. "Mind your manners," said Aryll's guide, "She's the daughter of the man who was once the richest person on the island, so she's got strict etiqutte-and after her father became poor, she became tough as nails." Aryll was getting more and more intrigued about this Queen Bee person-she had a feeling she knew her.

At last, they emerged into a large chamber that must be the Killer Bee Resistance hideout proper. "Welcome to the Hive, Aryll," said her guide. The room was devoid of features, save for a treasure chest and four other people. Two of them were girls, younger than her, whispering intently off to one side. The third looked like an adult, despite being even shorter than the other two, weaing a coat that looked way too hot, even more so than the Hero's Clothes. The last of them, with her back turned to the entrance, Aryll did indeed already know. "Mila! You're still taller than me!" she said. Her appearance had not changed much other than her height, which was legitimately imposing to Aryll, and her clothes, which had been upgraded from rags to a leather jerkin that looked thick as armor of the same material.

Still with her back to Aryll, Mila winced. "It's Queen Bee, now, please, and I will not accept that name you used or any other until Windfall Island is liberated." Then, she finally turned around. "Aryll! It really is you! It's been so long...but forgive me, I have to do something first." She turned to the others. "Killer Bees! Fall in!" she cried out, and in mere seconds, all seven present, including the adult in the heavy coat, lined up in front of her and saluted. "Sound off!" was her next command.

"Captain Bee!" said the boy in the hat.

"Sting Bee!" said the boy with spiked hair.

"Nimble Bee!" said the blue haired boy.

"Sentry Bee!" said the boy in overalls.

"Recon Bee!" said one of the little girls.

"Scout Bee!" said the other.

"Info Bee." said the man in the coat, seeming amused.

"At ease," said Mila, or Queen Bee. "Captain Bee, report."

"Yes'm," said Captain Bee, "Around 20 minutes ago, you sent us to investigate information received from Recon and Scout Bees indicating the Bear had left his cave. While in standard stealth position, we observed the Bear greet the arrival of two Fish, one adult and the girl Aryll here. The Bear tried to lure them in, but the adult somehow resisted his paws. The Bear then returned to his cave. After determining stealth was still intact, we escorted them both here as per standing orders. Did...I say all that right?"

"You did perfectly Captain Bee, much better than last time. Dismissed, all-Aryll and I need to have a talk." The seven lined up before her dispersed, and Mila came over to Aryll-she seemed to be looking her over a lot. "That sword you wear, Aryll...is it any good?" Aryll partially drew it in answer. Mila whistled. "Very good."

"Mila...I mean, Queen Bee, it's been so long. How did all this happen?"

"I'll tell you-on one condition. Nimble Bee, I need two practice stingers, and get one yourself-and tell the other Commando Bees to get their own practice stingers ready."

"That's another thing-what's with all the bee related code words?" said Aryll, and Mila winced again. "We're a resistance group, and all resistance groups have code words," she said with a haughty expression, "besides, it's fun." Meanwhile, Nimble Bee came back with three Boko sticks, and the three other Commando Bees who had shown the way to the hideout lined up, also holding a Boko stick each. Mila took one from Nimble Bee, who passed the last one to Aryll.

"Here's the situation," Mila began, "Your arrival with that sword may be the chance the Killer Bees have been waiting for to vanquish the Bear, Saligula. However...just because you wear your brother's sword and clothes doesn't mean you have his skills. Any attack on the Bear Cave is automatically an all-or-nothing plan, so I can't afford to make one with your skills untested. Pass two training exercises, and I'll make you a full member of the Killer Bees, with the code name Hero Bee. Once that's done, I'll tell you everything. First, you'll face all four Commando Bees at once. Score just one hit, and you'll remove that Bee from the action. The Boko sticks still do real damage, you see, so the fight would be unsafe otherwise. Also...for your own safety, the training session ends if you get hit three times. Got all that?"

"I think so..." said Aryll. This won't be easy, she thought, for she was outnumbered four to one, even if she had to land just one more hit on them than they had to on her. She hoped that all four of them would rush her at once-she'd taken some time in the trip from Outset to finally perfect the Spin Attack. "Good," said Mila, "Commando Bees...three...two...one...sting!" This was evidently the signal to start, for they all stepped forward. Surprisingly, they did not rush her, instead advancing carefully-evidently Mila trained them to float like butterflies as well as sting like bees. They started fanning out, and Aryll realized she would be in trouble unless she acted fast and stopped them from surrounding her. She went for Sentry Bee on the far right. She scored the hit on him from outside his reach. Next, she went for Captain Bee and took him out of the game similarly, but less than a second later felt a blow from behind. She dodge rolled away from the source of the blow, which turned out to be Nimble Bee. Careful not to lose sight of either Nimble or Sting Bees, she advanced on Nimble Bee. He certainly had earned that name, backflipping away from her every slash and thrust, but eventually she got him against a wall. He tried to dodge to the side, but was not as effective at this.

Aryll turned back to the last Commando, Sting Bee, who abruptly slowed his advance on her. She closed in and tried to hit him from out of his reach, but as soon as she attacked, he began a fast roll move to get behind her. She knew what was coming next and did a forward roll instinctively-and the Parry Attack Sting Bee had started hit nothing but air. Furthermore, he seemed a bit winded, so she seized her chance and laid the final blow. "Well done," said Mila. Aryll remembered with belated horror that in training fights, hits from Parry Attacks counted double-if Sting Bee had gotten through, she would've failed! She shook the thought from her head as Mila continued, "Now, before we move on..." she brought her hands together in what looked like a prayer, and a faint glow surrounded her briefly. Suddenly, the welt that Nimble Bee's strike had produced was gone as though it had never been. "No way..." said Aryll, in awe, "you know fairy healing magic?!"

"I do," said Mila, "and I'll tell you how, among many other things, if you pass the second exercise. Maybe you already know what it is, considering you just fought every other battle capable Bee at once."

Aryll pondered this, then weakly said, "...You?"

"That's right," said Mila, "This will be more straightforward-one on one. The first to score three times wins. I should mention-I go through the exercise you just did every morning before breakfast...and I've been undefeated five times in a row so far. But Saligula has both power and skill much greater than mine, so if you can't beat me, you've got no chance at all against him. So...you ready?"

Aryll had long since figured out that the Mila she'd known in their shared cell three years ago had changed a lot, first by poverty, then by Saligula's takeover. The look in her eyes was the very picture of "deadly serious". Perhaps some of the old Mila remained, but would stay hidden until Aryll had proved herself to her-and in doing so, she couldn't afford to expect nor show any weakness-and this included her answer now. "Ready," she said, full of determination.

In response, Mila brandished her Boko stick and assumed a far from perfect but still quite competent stance. "Then come at me...and feel the sting of the Queen!"


	5. Chapter 4--The Legend of the Iron Maiden

The Legend of Zelda: The Four Sacred Winds

Book One-The Legend Begins, Chapter IV: The Legend of the Iron Maiden

Windfall Island Jail-The Hive

Aryll could almost swear she heard the words "Iron Resistance Leader: Mila" in her head as she carefully advanced on Mila, but quickly shook it off. Aryll quickly realized she was at a significant disadvantage from the very start-much like the Commando Bees, she kept her distance before going in to attack, and was much better at it. Every time Aryll tried to force her against a wall, Mila found an escape, at one point even doing an amazing leap over her with elegant flips, and Aryll had to scramble so that she wasn't pinned up against the wall herself.

Mila's method of actual attack was another problem. She relied on a series of quick, small strikes rather than one or two large or medium strikes-if she connected with even one of these patterns it was all over. Aryll was dodging well, but eventually she'd get tired or make a mistake. The odds were severely stacked against her-Mila seemed to hold all the best cards.

Just then, Aryll realized that Mila actually only held MOST of the best cards-and if she was going to win this, Aryll would have to play the one she had starting right now. Mila jumped forward and executed a series of incredibly quick thrusts, but instead of dodging this time, Aryll raised her shield.

Wood met wood in a satisfying THOKTHOKTHOKTHOKTHOK sound as every one of Mila's thrusts failed to score. Aryll lashed out with her own Boko stick in the instant between the end of Mila's pattern and her retreat-and the first point was hers. "Pretty good," said Mila, reestablishing distance, "now let's see if you can handle my more advanced techniques." She once again jumped forward to attack, but this time instead of striking right away, she took a defensive stance. Aryll didn't rise to the bait, instead backing away-which was a good decision, since Mila attacked a moment later and it missed as a result.

Mila's next attack would prove trickier than anything Aryll had yet seen from her. Without any warning whatsoever, she executed a Jump Attack right at Aryll, forcing her to backflip dodge-and she was almost too late with the manuver. An instant later, almost too late became just plain too late as Mila followed up with a swift Spin Attack that caught Aryll on its edge. "That's two," said Mila, "you'll need to step up your game, or it'll be over."

She would indeed-with Mila feinting in addition to straight up attacking, and choosing which apparently at random, Aryll could no longer take advantage of an opening, for she didn't know which timing that opening would come in, and Mila's Jump Spin combo offered no vulnerability. However, after a few more dodges Aryll realized the feints were not random-Mila pointed her Boko Stick at her every time her pattern would start with a feint. Aryll waited for an attack to come where Mila did not point her stick forward, raised her shield in time to block a trio of slashes, then struck, tying the score.

Mila once again backed away to establish distance. "Okay," she said, "you can definitely do more than wave a weapon around. You're worthy of facing my best move!" She went into a stance that Aryll recognized-she was charging a Spin Attack, and no ordinary one either-small embers of fairy fire flowed to her Boko Stick from the hand holding it. Aryll realized that now, she was the one who needed to keep distance. The color of the flames turned from blue to yellow to red, and when they reached red, Mila released the spin. Its range was much larger than any spin attack Aryll had ever seen, but she had managed to get barely out of it. Mila panted slightly, and Aryll rushed to get in the opening-but she needn't have worried. The hand that had held the Boko stick now closed around half a handful of ash, with the rest of the ash that had been the Boko stick in a pile near Mila. Aryll laid the final blow without hesitation.

Mila's shoulders sagged in a gesture of defeat. "You have passed once more. I concede it-your skills are enough for the Killer Bees to attempt their final, most dangerous operation. But first, the induction ceremony." At these words, all the other Killer Bees surrounded them in a circle. "Raise your sword arm and repeat after me," she continued, and Aryll raised her right arm-she had not inherited her brother's left handed trait.

"I solemnly swear...to defend the Hive and uphold its code...to be called by no other name than Hero Bee until our final victory...to work toward that victory with power, to cast down the Bear Saligula, with wisdom, to complete missions with care, and with courage, to never surrender. All who would bring evil to the shores of Windfall will feel my sting!"

"It is done," said Mila after this oath was complete, "welcome to the Resistance, Hero Bee. As promised...I will now tell all. It all started some weeks before Saligula arrived..."

That was when the rumors of the arrival of a new power in the Forsaken Fortress reached Windfall. There had been a small time Moblin chieftain there before, but suddenly the other Moblins got a lot more organized, so he must have been deposed. I realized then that evil of a kind seen since your brother's day would be upon us any day...and I resolved to be ready. Your brother may have told you about...a certain incident where he caught me about to try to steal from Zunari's shop. I never snuck around again after that, until that day. I started practicing hiding and sneaking again, and spent every rupee from my job with Zunari that I let myself keep to get the local sailors to teach me swordplay. But...even with all that, I could never have been fully prepared for what happened next.

When Saligula first arrived, I sensed something evil about him...but the feeling was vague and no one listened. He said he was there to buy the lighthouse, and he had the rupees for it-tens and tens of thousands of them. Maggie's father, the wealthiest man on the island and as such its mayor, agreed to the bargain, and so did Mr. Salvatore who owned its first floor...and the trouble began. He used dark magic with a power I didn't think was possible to transform the lighthouse into his tower in just one night. Then...he began rounding up all the villagers and inviting them to live in the tower. I tried to convince them not to go, but only Maggie listened. She convinced the four original former Killer Bees to not go with their parents and to help us smuggle Joanna and Potova away from theirs. Along the way, I...stole this armor from Zunari's unattended shop. For that I apologize, Info Bee-I'll return it once Windfall is liberated, I promise."

Zunari/Info Bee shook his head. "Perish the thought, madame-you are doing Windfall Island, and by extension myself, a service beyond price, not to mention you also saved my life directly-I owe you my very life and more besides. The first I am repaying by joining your resistance. I only wish that the cursed Bear had not removed all the useful equipment for sale from my stall so I could begin to repay the rest sooner by arming it."

Mila bowed deeply to him in gratitude, then continued. "I'd found the Hive on one of my practice sneaking sessions-I knew it'd be the perfect base, I led everyone there to it, and things were going great...until Maggie's father caught her. Everyone else besides me and her were already in the tunnels, so he was only angry at her for consorting with a...commoner urchin like me, since that's all it looked like." Mila seemed to be forcing back a sob during this last sentence. She went on, "He could care less about me, but...he got Maggie into the tower, and she's been there since...and no one's come out of the tower since they went in."

"What about Info Bee?" asked Aryll, "He went in, right?"

"I'll take this part of the story by your leave, Queen Bee," said Info Bee. Mila nodded, and he continued, "At great risk to her own life, the queen snuck into the tower to find out how Saligula was keeping everyone prisoner. And...they are indeed prisoners, but not in the usual sense. The Bear gave them all lush hotel rooms to stay in, and so many luxuries that they don't want to leave. But that is only the bait for a hugely elaborate and sinister trap, and...I deduced the nature of it partially...and made the mistake of confronting the Bear, right around the time the queen snuck in. The facade was taking a lot of effort on his part to maintain, so he had me locked away conventionally to be...dispatched later. The young lady crept through the dungeon, avoiding the Bear's Cubs, in other words Saligula's Vice-Roys, fearsome minions too incorporeal to be hurt by blade or magic. I don't know if they can hurt anyone, but they can certainly capture them. I'd never seen more heroic sneaking in my life. I was harder pressed than her on the exit journey-I admit it, I was a definite burden...but we made good our escape and she brought me here. She gave me the code name Info Bee in gratitude for the plethora of information I gave her about the Bear's intentions and methods.

You see, Hero Bee, everything he did upon arriving here-the buyout of the lighthouse, construction of the tower, and luring everyone inside...it is all for the sake of greed. He feeds on it-it strengthens him and his magic. Every hour the islanders remain unknowingly captive, feeding him this way, he grows ever stronger. To cultivate and harvest the islanders' greed, the entire entrance floor of the tower is a great casino, and no one can get to their rooms on the upper floors without passing through it. Once they started gambling, they all got utterly hooked, for he rigged the games to let them win. But the tower rules state that you can only cash out when you check out, and he is not allowing anyone to check out...it was when I realized this that I started putting it all together."

"And that's the story up to your arrival, Hero Bee," said Mila. "The day's getting on, so we'll need to hold a war council now if we're going to strike by tomorrow morning."


	6. Chapter 5--Ire of the Fairy Queen

The Legend of Zelda: Four Sacred Winds

Book One-The Legend Begins, Chapter V: The Ire of the Fairy Queen

The Hive-War Council

Suddenly, Linebeck's voice emanated from Aryll's pocket. How she could tell that was the case with a voice inside her head, she didn't know. "Aryll, I think if there is going to be a war council, I should be a part of the proceedings. I've gotten good tactical experience on the seas between the Great Sea and the next continent."

"Hero Bee, is something the matter?" said Mila.

"One sec. I think Linebeck slipped some kind of communicator in my pocket that's talking in my head," said Aryll.

"A communicator?" said Mila in an unusually worried tone, "I'd been sensing magical emanations from you, but they were weak and I thought they were from the sword...you've got to tell Linebeck to cease communication! If the magic gets any stronger, Saligula will detect it, and it'll be sundown soon-as soon as it gets dark, he'll be able to send the Vice-Roys here!" Aryll reached in her pockets and found the communicator. Unfortunately, it was in the form of a pretty blue glowing stone. "I...I have no idea how to work it!" said Aryll, now worried herself.

"Oh, that's okay...I just figured out how to make this thing actually project my voice to you," said Linebeck, and it was indeed aloud this time. Mila grabbed the stone from Aryll's hands as though she was choking a cobra, her face contorted in rage and dismay. "Linebeck you complete IDIOT! You just caused a magical emanation strong enough to light up the Hive like a festive Wintersday tree! This is the only place on the island that Saligula didn't know about and you've ruined that! You have singlehandedly doomed the Windfall Island Resistance you total buffoon!"

"Queen Bee...I'm sorry," said Aryll.

"It's not your fault Aryll...the code names are pointless now...we're finished. There's nowhere else to go where Saligula won't find us."

"That might not be true," said Aryll, struck with timely inspiration, "what if we hid on Linebeck's ship?"

"Cut and run?! Maybe..." Rila looked despondent at this.

"Nobody's running. But if we make it look like we TRIED to run by stealing Linebeck's ship and he stopped us..."

Rila's eyes widened. "Aryll...since when are you such a genius?! That's brilliant! Killer Bees! Emergency scatter! Once out, head for Linebeck's ship! You getting enough of this plan, buffoon?"

"I believe so," said Linebeck, "feel free to keep up the insults for now, it will make it far easier for me to feign my part in the imminent struggle."

"No problem ya moron. Aryll, I have to gather my most valuable possessions. Before you go, open the chest and take what's inside-it's literally the key to our victory, well, one of them anyway."

"Got it. But...what happened to Hero Bee?"

"Well...the whole code name thing is a little silly after all, I think. Now go!"

"You got it...Rila," Aryll said with a wink, and went to open the chest. Inside was a single object that looked like a card, but looked like it was made to stuff too strong for playing cards. As she picked it up, she did her Item Get pose, and the message in her head said, "You got the Elevator Card! Could this really be a key to victory?"

As Aryll approached the tunnel, Rila said, "Don't bother with the proper exit-use one of the trapdoors, the ground changes from stone to wood where they are. You'll get a dunking, but get out quicker." I don't know how to get to the proper exit anyway, Aryll thought as she crawled onto the nearest trapdoor, which gave way almost immediately, landing Aryll in waters near the shore. By the time she reached Linebeck's ship, all the Killer Bees except for Mila were already feigning unconciousness as Linebeck bound them together-at least she hoped they were only pretending. She hid behind a nearby rock pillar-Saligula knew that Aryll wasn't a Killer Bee because she hadn't been when she arrived, and Aryll planned on keeping it that way. A short time later, Mila splashed down nearby. "I'll wait here for now," said Aryll quietly, "I'll play a different part once you fake being defeated by Linebeck."

"Got it," said Mila, who ran towards Linebeck's ship. As she ran off, Aryll noticed that she now bore what looked like a very real sword. Aryll listened in from afar. Mila was at the edge of Linebeck's ship's gangplank, with Linebeck on the deck. "I am commandeering your vessel in the name of the Killer Bees," said Mila, drawing and pointing her now definitely very real sword at Linebeck.

"The Killer Bees is it?" said Linebeck, bemused, "I'd heard they were only a petty street gang of largely harmless mischief makers. Now you've styled yourself their leader and turned them into full-fledged criminals. And the next step, no doubt, is to steal a ship and make a further leap to full on pirates! I will never allow it!"

"You've got it all wrong, but I don't have time to explain myself to you, nor do I need to. Surrender!"

"Or you'll do what? Slay me? You're an unconcionably bad egg, girl, and if I must crack you I shall." With a flick of his thumb, Linebeck popped the fake purple rupee off his cane with a sound as though it was a cork-revealing a sword hilt underneath. The blade he drew was slender, but outreached Mila's.

"Enough talk! Yaaaah!" Mila leaped at Linebeck in a Jump Attack-an accidentally on purpose tactical error. Linebeck had greater reach and the high ground. Swinging the blade while Mila was in midair, he swept her off the gangplank and into the nearby water with a single stroke. She surfaced, coughing and spluttering as she flopped onto the shore.

Saligula was now seen racing toward the scene, his face glowing with triumph. "My good sir," he said to Linebeck, "are you quite all right? I came as soon as I was notified of the commotion...but you seem to have handled yourself splendidly. You have my undying gratitude-this gang of urchins turned wannabe pirates has caused me no end of trouble."

"Indeed," said Linebeck, "after you'd left, they ambushed us both and kidnapped my daughter. They took her to some hidey hole or another that I couldn't fit into...oh, I do hope she's all right." Recognizing a cue when she saw one, Aryll ran out toward him. "Dad, what's going on? Why did you tie those kids up?"

"They assaulted me, dear, I had to defend myself."

"Huh? But...that's impossible! They told me..."

Saligula interrupted. "I'm sure they told your daughter many things, sir-they're a most tricky bunch...especially the leader. She's a veritable expert at feeding lies to innocent children to get them to join her."

"Quite so, I'm sure," said Linebeck, "what shall I do with them?"

"My security can escort them to the tower where they shall await proper authorities."

It was a good thing Linebeck held his dismay in check so as not to give the ruse away, because Aryll was totally unable to-but Saligula wasn't looking at her. She regained her composure when she noticed that Mila was now gone. At that very moment, the sun finished setting, and at the snap of his fingers, his Vice-Roys appeared. They were indeed incorporeal, and had bulbous bodies that were absorbing the other Killer Bees-but they were not the invincible minions Zunari had made them out to be. There were a bit larger and rounder than she had heard from her brother, but these were clearly Poes-hardly unbeatable, all it took was a bit of sunlight and dispatching them was rendered simple.

She was certain that Saligula would have a Poe capture her covertly if she kept up the act, so she snuck away while Saligula was distracted by his percieved victory. She ran off into the town, looking for Mila. She found her hiding in a space between two buildings, and joined her. "I'm glad you got away, Aryll," said Mila, "but it looks like it really is over this time. Those Vice-Roys are natural jail cells, and totally unbreakable."

"That might have been true Mila," said Aryll, "if there really was such a thing as a Vice-Roy, but there isn't. He's made some kind of modifications to a group of monsters called Poes...and Poes aren't unbreakable. All it takes is a little sunlight and swordplay. My brother told me."

Mila was stunned. "Seriously?! Oh great Goddesses...I am so STUPID! The whole Vice-Roy thing was just smoke and mirrors the whole time-they had me so afraid that I didn't see the answer right in front of me! I was so convinced they couldn't be beat that I didn't realize the pattern...they only patrolled outside at night, and that time that I snuck in, they all avoided well lit places...argh!"

"We still have one problem though," said Aryll, "Saligula's got them well trained, and they avoid light on instinct anyway."

"I can bring the light to them," said Mila. She reached into a pouch near her sword hilt and pulled out an ornate pink book with an undone clasp over the cover. She opened it to show that there were many more clasps on the inside, each one keeping a portion of the book shut-except for the clasp over the first chapter, which was also undone. "This is a book of Fairy magic," she explained, "I've only managed to open the first chapter so far, but I've learned all the fairy spells in it. That's what powered up my Spin Attack and let me heal you before. There's two other spells in the chapter-one lets me break dungeon seals on chests and doors, but the other one lets me create a powerful flash of light. However...that one is the most difficult spell, and it'll weaken me for a while when I use it, so you'll have to take down the Poes yourself."

"Got it." Aryll and Mila went deeper into the town, and chose the hill with the gravestone on it-it gave them high ground and there was no possibility that Mila's spell would be obstructed. Saligula didn't take long to arrive, and was delighted to have the two of them apparently cornered. "My...the Queen Bee's annoying buzzing...at last it will be silenced," he taunted, "Vice-Roys! Make sure they cannot come down the cliff!" As the Poes advanced, the taunting continued, "I must say, you'd proven yourself a capable sneak before, miss Mila. I'm surprised you allowed yourself to get caught in a place like this."

For the first time since they'd arrived, Aryll saw Mila genuinely smile. "That's because I'm not the one who's caught-you are! Let's see your so-called Vice-Roys handle my Fairy Flash!" She put her hands together in the prayer gesture, and a brilliant light shone from her body, quickly expanding to engulf the entire area. Instantly all seven Poes holding a Killer Bee gagged and retched, and every single one of them was ejected as the Poes solidified.

"So, that game is indeed up at last. It certainly took you long enough, girl," said Saligula, surprisingly unconcerned-bored, even.

"That's right," said Aryll, for Mila was too out of breath to speak, "and now you can kiss all your Poe's goodbye!"

"Oh, do try by all means, if you honestly think you can get through me-" Saligula trailed off, for Linebeck had unsheathed his sword-cane and pressed it against his throat. "It's all over, you despicable cur," said Linebeck.

"Bad move," said Saligula, his eyes narrowing. He broke Linebeck's hold with astounding ease and attacked him with such ferocity that it was all Linebeck could do to hold him off. Meanwhile, Aryll was slashing at every Poe in sight, but they weren't dropping easily, even though they could do no more than run around like headless Cuccoos. Eventually, four of the eight present fell to her sword, but the other half suddenly turned incorporeal again. "Over, you say? Hardly. You've diminished my forces, but that's all you've done. My tower cannot be destroyed unless someone reaches the lowest room, and no matter how you search the tower, you will never find its key! As long as I have that inner chamber, I can regroup again and again and again..."

Hearing this, Aryll felt another piece of the puzzle fall into place. She lept right at Saligula, sword drawn. Taken by surprise, Saligula had his cane knocked away by Aryll's strike. The round crystal on top dislodged from it as soon as it was out of Saligula's grasp. It floated about a foot off the ground, and with a dim glow, faded away and a Big Key Chest faded in to take its place. "Girl...you shouldn't have done that," said Saligula, "Before, this was a mere battle. Now it's a war! Come then, to the innermost chamber-if you can!" Saligula vanished, along with the remaining Poes. Once Aryll retrieved the Big Key, Mila woke. "Ungh...is it over?"

"No..." said Aryll, who then explained.

"So...we won the battle but the war's only started. Argh..."

Suddenly, a little girl materialized out of thin air, floating. This was no ordinary girl-her entire body was luminescent and had a light blue metallic sheen. She was also holding a plush doll that looked exactly like a Great Fairy. "Who...who are you?" said Mila, "The magic...so strong...it's like you're completely made of it!"

"So...you're the naughty girl who's dabbling in Fairy magic. But...oh my...it seems you didn't even know it was forbidden for your people! That makes dolly so sad..." she suddenly flew right up close to Mila's face, holding the doll out. "See?"

The doll indeed had a sad face. The Fairy Queen floated back away slightly. "Even so, you've still been a very naughty girl-and naughty girls get time-outs. But...these other people need your help for now. This island is being corrupted by an evil force, and it's spreading. That makes dolly very angry...see?" She once again thrust the doll in Mila's face, and it indeed had an angry expression now. "So, I'll wait to put you in time out." Without warning, the doll's four arms pointed at Mila, and a ray of magic shot out from each of them and joined together into one, striking Mila in her hand. A black colored fairy tattoo burned itself into her palm painlessly. "This spell will bring you to me when it senses the corruption is fading, or if you give up or try to run away. See you then!" And with that, she turned into a bright shimmer of lights that flew off to Mother Isle.

Mila was in shock, staring at the tattoo on her palm, for several minutes...then fell down asleep. It wasn't a faint this time...she was completely exhausted.


	7. Chapter 6--Little Sister's First Dungeon

The Legend of Zelda: The Four Sacred Winds

Book 1-The Legend Begins, Chapter VI: Little Sister's First Dungeon

Windfall Island-That Night

Once Mila had recovered, all the children slept, either near or in the jail that was the facade of the Killer Bees' former base, with Mila and Linebeck exchanging watches. Aryll dreamed, and once again it seemed a terrible nightmare. Mila, Linebeck, and herself stood on Windfall's beach, black storm clouds stretching overhead from horizon to horizon. At the top of Saligula's dungeon, Windfall Tower, a massive, bleached white eye glared at them malevolently. The rain came hard, though not as hard as the dream before-but still enough to thoroughly soak the three of them in under half a minute. The eye narrowed, then suddenly widened and a bolt of lightning came at them from the storm-

But Mila quickly drew a beautiful sword, multicolored and luminescent with magic and raised it skyward. The lightning arced to it, and the sword completely absorbed it. Then, a ray of magical light shot out from the sword, parting the storm clouds, blue sky spreading outward from where it struck. However, the storm rallied, black beginning to fill in the blue space again. Then, Linebeck drew a sword himself, as beautiful as Mila's, with a blue hilt that was translucent and beautiful enough that it could have been carved from a massive sapphire, with a blade made of metal that rippled as though it was alive. A second ray of light shot from this sword, pushing the clouds back further, but again they rallied.

Suddenly, Aryll's brother appeared out of thin air, and held up a blade she recognized-the Master Sword. A third ray of light emanated from it-the storm was now totally cleared over Windfall island itself, but still it attempted to rally and regain ground. The three of them, still maintaining their sword beams, all gave Aryll a meaninful glance. Acting on some prophetic instinct, Aryll reached for her own sword, and when she drew it, she saw that it wasn't the plain Hero's Sword, but a weapon of terrible beauty and power, even more so than the other three. The hilt was made of something akin to gold, but that glittered even more brightly. Aryll couldn't even make out what the blade was made of, but whatever it was, it shone like a miniscule sun.

Aryll raised it skyward, and the ray that shot from it was greater than all the others. The storm was beaten back even more, and when it started to rally again, Linebeck, Mila, and Aryll's brother adjusted their beams to join with hers. As the combined beam struck the storm, a magical shockwave formed, and the storm was totally eradicated...

And with that, Aryll's dream faded-and this time, she had no memory of it save for a faint wisp that did not have the strength to do more than niggle at her when she awoke. Saligula had not attacked the previous night, so Aryll was well rested as she joined Linebeck and Mila in preparing for the raid on Windfall Tower. It had been decided that only the three of them would go-the rest of the Killer Bees, even the four "commandos", were simply too unprepared for any serious battle or dungeon trek. When they were ready, the trio steeled themselves and entered.

The first room was wide, but not long. A broad archway separated it from the main room beyond-the casino. From here, they could see every single one of the adult Windfall islanders, gambling and winning contentedly, greed filling their hearts to the point of consumption. "The arch is rigged," said Mila, "anyone who steps through not on Saligula's guest list sets it off. I busted Zunari out by sneaking around the Poes at night, then opening the front door from outside. It...doesn't open from the inside, according to Zunari."

"Wait...we're trapped in here?!" said Linebeck, "You couldn't have mentioned this _before_ we got started?"

"It's not important anyway," said Aryll, "I have no plans to turn back now and you shouldn't either, Linebeck."

"Err...quite right. Mila, is there any way to get past the alarm?"

"No," said Mila, "I don't know what the alarm triggers, but we have no choice but to risk it." With that, she passed through the archway, and a klaxon sounded. A man in a sharp suit came up to them immediately. "I'm sorry sir," he said to Linebeck, "but there are no minors allowed in the casino area. Why don't we get you checked in while I call for an escort for your daughters?"

"I'm afraid we're not here to check in, my NOT good man," said Linebeck, reaching for his sword, "but to make Saligula check out of Windfall Island permanently."

"Ah!" said the man with a hand clap and a sinister smile, "You must be THAT party. Mr. Saligula canceled all his other appointments today anticipating you-he is most eager to observe your efforts to keep your own appointment with him. He also instructed me to give you this message. 'It is futile to try to release the gambling islanders before our appointment. If you can keep to it, then you may be able to save them.' Do try and hurry-Mr. Saligula detests being kept waiting." With that, the man vanished, and Aryll and Linebeck joined Mila on the other side of the archway. Aryll felt nothing-but Linebeck fell to his knees, clutching his head as though from a splitting headache. "Linebeck?!" said Aryll, "What's wrong?!"

"Something's...affecting me, making me...so greedy...you'll have to go on without me. I fear that...I won't be able to resist this casino. I'm sorry that...I'll only be one more person to save." With that, Linebeck dashed off to a nearby gaming table, ensorcelled.

"Zunari never said anything about this!" said Mila, "Saligula must have done some kind of powerful enchantment after I helped him escape...and now there's only two of us to tackle the dungeon."

"That's still one more than most dungeons," said Aryll, "let's go." They went for the back of the room, where the elevator was. Aryll swiped the Elevator Key, and the door opened. Inside the lift, there was an unlit torch in each corner, and a pair of buttons marked "1" and "2". Mila tried both, but only the one marked "2" worked, and they felt the lift move up-and when the doors opened, they emerged into a hallway with two doors on either side, and a door at the end that was sealed. The door at the end was flanked by a pair of torches. "Torches," said Aryll, "my brother said in one of his letters that a sealed door plus torches always means you have to light them somehow. If there aren't torches, then there will be a switch or enemies to fight."

"Good to know, said Mila, "which room first?"

"You're asking me?" said Aryll, to which Mila nodded. "I'm good with sneaking around, training people, and fighting, but going through dungeons is new. You're the one with the knowledge there-you know everything your brother told you about the subject of dungeons."

Aryll thought. "Well...there's two torches, which means we have two things to activate. But...there's four doors. The most common reason is that two of the rooms don't have the way to light them, and have either traps, treasures, or both instead. But...Saligula made this place right?"

"Yeah, why?" said Mila.

"If he designed the dungeon, I don't think he's going to make it so it follows the usual designs. He's already broken just about the biggest rule of dungeons-the location of the Big Key. Usually, the Big Key is deep inside the dungeon-and its never carried by an enemy, even one as powerful as him. If he's willing to break that big a rule, I'd think he'd be more than willing to break others."

"What others?" said Mila, now listening intently.

"For example...every dungeon my brother faced, he got through it on his own. Saligula knew the two of us were coming as of last night-I wouldn't put it past him to force us to split up. So...if I'm right, we should both take the door on either side. I'll go right."

"Hold on," said Mila, "if we're splitting up, you should know something," said Mila-who then held out a magical communicator identical to the one Linebeck had slipped to Aryll, "I swiped this from Linebeck as soon as I realized he'd be out of action for this. Just hold it up to your mouth and speak, and I can hear you. Let's try it out after we enter the rooms."

Aryll nodded, taking her Comm Stone out once she stepped through the door on the right. "Aryll, can you hear me?" said Mila through it.

"I hear you," said Aryll into it, "this room has nothing in it except a floor switch, is it the same for you?"

"It is," said Mila, "I'll try stepping on it." She said nothing more for a few seconds, then, "It's not working-it goes back up when I stop standing on it. Is it supposed to do that?"

"Not usually," said Aryll, who after stepping on her own switch said, "try it now."

"Hey, it worked that time!" said Mila. Aryll met her in the hallway. "It's just like I thought-they won't stay down unless we hit them both together," she said. They glanced at the door at the end, and saw that the left hand torch was now lit. They went into the next two doors, Aryll once again taking the right and Mila the left. "I see a locked door and a treasure chest, and nothing else," said Mila through the stones, "What's the gimmick this time?"

"I'm not sure...but you're right," said Aryll, "I've got the same thing, and it's way too straightforward after the switches. Don't drop your guard!"

"Never do," said Mila-and after a few seconds Aryll heard a scream. "What the heck?! It came to life when I touched it! And it's _gross_!" There was about 20 seconds to half a minute of silence, followed by, "Okaaaaay...glad that's over. When I beat the monster, it turned back into a normal chest, and the key was inside. When you fight yours, go for the eye."

"A chest that turns into a monster?" said Aryll, "Big Brother never said anything about that!"

"Maybe it's a new kind of monster," said Mila, as Aryll touched her chest, which immediately turned into a Mimic. It had a large, beady eye, and when it opened its maw, it revealed two rows of razor sharp teeth and a dark purple tongue dripping with drool. Aryll went for the thing's eye-it wasn't easy-Aryll's stature compare to the Mimic's restricted her to vertical slashes, and it tried to swallow her whole every time she got close-but she managed to remain unscathed and defeat it. It indeed turned into a normal chest, and Aryll removed the key from inside. Both of them moving on, Aryll said, "This room's the same as the first for me," stepping on the switch.

"Same for me," said Mila, doing the same. They confirmed that they'd done it, stepped off the switches, and returned to the hallway. Both torches were now lit-and the door was now unsealed. They stepped through, and saw a set of stairs and a large chest. Aryll opened it-it was no Mimic this time, and contained the Dungeon Map. After Aryll's pose finished, she took a look. The dungeon had a total of four aboveground floors and one basement level. The next two floors up had the same overall size as the casino and the second floor, but fewer and larger rooms-with the 3rd floor having only four rooms and the hallway, and the fourth having an antechamber and a single, massive room. They steeled themselves, then went up.


	8. Chapter Final--TI&MDHOC

AUTHOR NOTE: Sorry about the weird acronym...stupid chapter title character limit. _

Zelda Four Sacred Winds Book 1, The Legend Begins

Chapter Final: The Ignoble and Most Diabolical House of Cubus

Windfall Tower-3F

Each of the four doors in the hallway had a torch-but they were lit, each flame a different color. Suddenly, four small girls with subtly sinister painted-doll faces, each looking around Aryll's age appeared, and the torches shrank from dungeon brazier size to actual torch size, each sister holding a single one. Their clothes matched the flame colors-one red, one yellow, one green, one purple.

"We are the four daughters of the House of Cubus," said the red one.

"We escort the children guests of Saligula to their rooms, and keep them happy and safe from harm," said the yellow one.

"That is, until it's too late!" said the green one.

"But for you...instead of taking you to your room, we're going to take you to your DOOM!" said the purple one.

"Follow if you dare!" said all of them in unison, each one phasing through a wall leading to each room.

"Aryll," said Mila, "I don't think we should split up this time."

Aryll agreed, and they went through the close left door, which immediately sealed behind them. "Welcome," said the red Cubus Sister, "I am Joelle-the youngest daughter of the House of Cubus. Pleased to BEAT you!"

"I know exactly who you are," said Aryll, "my Big Brother told me all about you. You Cubus sisters tried to trick him, and when that didn't work, you fought him. Well, you didn't beat him, and you won't beat me!"

"Or me!" Mila added.

"You're his sister?" said Joelle, eyes widening-but only for a moment. "That was our only loss in centuries...but Saligula helped us step up our game in exchange for our playing our role in his little resort. Our first loss will be our only, this we have sworn! It's game time!" Joelle retreated to the rear of the room, and a magic barrier erected, exactly bisecting it. "But in THIS game of Dead Man's Volley, you have to face all four of us by ourselves first. Looks like I'm starting things off. Little Aryll should know the rules, but does Mila?"

"I do," said Mila aloud. _But I haven't trained in the style_, she thought instead of speaking, so she wouldn't show weakness. She held her sword in a ready stance, and Aryll did the same. Joelle fired, her first Volley heading straight for Mila. She volleyed it back, and while her aim needed a lot of work, Joelle moved into its path anyway and volleyed it back, her torch transforming into a raquet-aiming for Aryll this time. It was also faster. Aryll volleyed it back, and Joelle volleyed it to Mila again, who volleyed it back, who volleyed it to Aryll even faster-who tried to volley it back, but it was going so fast that she missed the timing completely. Aryll winced at the loss of Heart.

"Just dodge them if she aims for you-leave the volleying to me," said Mila. However, Joelle aimed for Aryll three times in a row this time-and when she dodged, it turned into a laser upon hitting the wall behind them, striking Aryll for a second hit. "Looks like I've found the weakest link," said Joelle, cackling, "GOODBYE!" she served again, right at Aryll-but Mila intercepted the shot and volleyed it back. She kept Aryll right behind her, and volleyed twice more-and this time Joelle was caught. "So, the other one can play," she said, "but can she really protect little Aryll?" When the process repeated twice more, she found out the answer was yes. On the third hit, her face cracked, shattering into several pieces and falling off-revealing now her true, hideous face. "Looks like it," she said as she vanished, "not half bad." Her racquet dropped as she disappeared, reforming into the red flame, which levitated over to the elevator, lighting the first torch there.

They went back to the hallway and into the door directly across. The yellow Cubus sister was waiting for them, racquet in hand. "Welcome," she said, "I am Beth-third daughter of the House of Cubus. Pleased to defeat you!" A magical barrier formed, bisecting the room-and then another formed, separating Aryll and Mila into two quarters of the room. "Two on one's no fair if you can work together like you did with Joelle-and Dead Man's Volley is only allowed to be unfair in our favor!" Without further ceremony, she served to Aryll. I took damage already, she thought, I have to go for it, it's the only way to avoid more! She returned the serve, then the first volley, then the second quickly came at her-and she returned it too, now expecting the speed at which it came at her. Beth, however, wasn't expecting the return at all, and was hit. "Huh, you can play too now? My, such a fast learner..." she said, then served at Aryll again. She returned it, and the first volley as well, but on the second, Beth switch targets to Mila. She managed to just barely return it, even being caught slightly by surprise, and Beth was hit again. She was silent before the next serve, which was to Mila, but both volleys were to Aryll-and she returned the 3rd shot anyway. Beth's face cracked like Joelle's, revealing the ugliness beneath.

"Tch...maybe us taking you two on one at a time at first was a bad idea," she said,"it's like you're getting better every time! Oh well, there's nothing for it now. I'll see you again...on the top floor." With that, she vanished.

They moved on to the next room-the green Cubus Sister was in this one. "Hello there," she said, "I am Amy-second daughter of the House of Cubus." Without any warning, she formed the same barriers as before, and fired at Aryll. She volleyed to her twice, and when Aryll returned for the third time, Amy's mask vanished, and the attack passed right through her. She cackled, and the rebound headed straight for Mila's side, going even faster. She tried to volley it, but couldn't reach it in time-and a laser shot out from the wall behind where the ball had hit, striking her. "What the-?" she said, getting back up, "How can we beat this one?"

"I have an idea maybe," said Aryll, but Amy launched her next serve at Mila upon hearing this. As Mila returned the serve, Aryll quickly said, "The rebound! On the second volley, get her on the rebound!"

Hearing this, Mila returned the first volley so that Amy would have to move to a position where the second would be a straight shot. That volley return was dead on, and passed through her, began cackling-and the cackling was cut short as she was indeed struck from behind. After this, she mixed up her targeting, but Mila and Aryll had gotten well practiced enough so that they defeated her with the same trick without any further scathe to themselves.

"Argh!" said Amy, mask stripped away, "I KNEW it was a bad idea to start off easy on you both and then get harder! Saligula even agreed with me, but did my sisters listen? Noooooooo..." With that, she vanished, and Aryll and Mila moved on to the final room-occupied by the purple Cubus Sister. "Welcome," she said, engaging the magic walls and launching the first attack with no warning at all, and Aryll only barely managed the return. Mila made the second volley, and it passed through the Cubus Sister, was on course for the rebound-and she dematerialized again, the orb becoming even faster still. Mila barely managed to return the volley- and somehow, it was on target again, and even faster than it had been before Mila's return-leaving the Sister with too little time to dematerialize again. She went for Aryll next, who braced herself-she had a chance, since from Mila's turn she knew how fast the final volley would be, but it would still be close. The sister went exclusively for Aryll, and she almost mistimed the extra volley-but it struck true all the same.

Realizing she was in a desperate situation, the Cubus Sister tried alternating targets-but to no avail. Her doll mask cracked and fell off as well upon the third hit. "So...I, Meg, eldest daughter of the House of Cubus, have failed as well, on my own. Saligula will see you now-but I think you'll want to finish our game first, otherwise, we'll need a new player for the final round...if you know what I mean, Mila," she said in a way that suggested meaning. Then, she vanished.

"No..." said Mila, "Aryll, we have to follow them to the top floor-they must have Maggie! I can't leave her in their clutches, no way!" Aryll nodded agreement, and the two of them went forward to the top floor, readying themselves for whatever lay ahead. The Cubus Sisters awaited them, and readied their pre-battle taunts-but then the man from before appeared. "I have a messages for two parties from Mr. Saligula-the Cubus Sisters and his next appointment. Sisters...though you have failed so far, your innovations impress him. He would like to promote the four of you to full Boss Class. Report immediately to the Dark Fortress...and go ahead and bring the girl with you. She'll be excellent leverage against Mila."

"Wh...what? Wait a minute!" said Mila, but none of the Sisters nor this man paid her any heed. The Sisters' masked reformed, they bowed respectfully, and vanished. "For you two...Mr. Saligula regrets to inform you that he will be unable to keep your appointment. You may attempt to call on him at his new lodgings alongside the new master of the Dark Fortress-it will not be forsaken much longer. You may depart immediately if you wish. The tower entrance has even been unlocked with his blessing. However...it may interest you to know that I, Ja'baraa, am the true source of the ensorcelment of the residents of this tower. Now that you've bested the Sisters, you may call on me in my new office any time." Suddenly, he paused, seeming to sniff the air. "I do hope you will...particularly the ravishing lady in rags," he continued, "I couldn't be sure on the casino floor, too many interfering smells. But now I am. You, young lady, smell of riches, though you are clothed in rags. That smell...to me, anything and anyone that smells of wealth is a true delicacy. I am sure...that you will be most delicious." With that, he vanished again, licking his lips in a fashion most disturbing as he did so.

"Am I hearing this right?" said Mila, "The dungeon boss wants...to EAT me?! Well that...is REALLY RUDE! I'm going to free the islanders. I take it you're still in, Aryll-for one thing, Linebeck is with them now."

"Even if he wasn't, I'd still do it," said Aryll, "Let's take him down!" They quickly went to the elevator-and now the four torches were lit, and the center of the floor had changed to a platform. They rode it downward. They passed a set of doors on the way down that led to the casino, then the lift stopped with a quaint "ding", and the Big Door was before them. Aryll unlocked it, and they went through.

The room they found themselves in was truly massive even by boss arena standards. In the very center, Ja'baraa sat at a small round dinner table with a plain white tablecloth. A plate sat before his chair-but rather than food, rupees of various denominations, but mostly red and purple, were placed on it. "Did you have to come so soon?" he said, popping a Red Rupee in his mouth and swallowing it whole before he continued, "I'm not even close to finished with my appetizer...now I'll have to rush it." With that, he raised the plate to his lips and tilted it, shoveling scads of rupees into his mouth in a matter of seconds.

Mila was distraught. "H...how COULD you?! I swear I saw orange and silver rupees in there! Do you know how much that many rupees would mean to so many people-for example..._me_?! And my _family_?!"

"Oh pipe down, it's not like they're going to waste-the more of them I eat, the stronger I get. I need to be strong for Master Saligula. I don't even digest them. Oh well...you want to get this over with as much as I do. Hang on a sec." With these words, Ja'baraa's body began expanding in an extremely grotesque fashion, until he became a hideous brown slug creature who easily took up the whole of the center of the room even as large as it was. Four crystal switches appeared, one on each wall-but they were all extending from the wall, well out of reach of either of them. "That's better," said Ja'baraa, "now come here girl...I want to taste you for real."

"That's _disgusting_! _You're_ disgusting!" said Mila, thoroughly grossed out. Aryll heard a voice in her head that said, "Repulsive, Monstrous Mogul: Ja'baraa" For a moment, Aryll was disheartened-but then remembered her brother's Boomerang. "Mila! Distract him-I'll take care of the switches, they HAVE to do something good!" Mila nodded, and ran in the opposite direction that Aryll did. Ja'baraa sent massive golden discs after her, but Mila's agility was top-notch, and she easily evaded all of them. She heard a voice after a short time, from the Comm Stone. "I've hit two so far, but still nothing. You must have to hit them all." Mila continued dodging with masterful grace, until she heard "I'm about to hit the last one, get ready!" A second later, a massive chandelier that somehow neither of them had noticed crashed down-a weight dangling from it landing right on Ja'baraas skull, which flopped forward, tongue lolling out on the ground, its owner stunned. The chandelier retracted. "You want to taste me huh?!" said Mila, dashing forward, "Well how about a taste of steel instead!" She hacked away at the thing's tongue as soon as she could, and Ja'baraa's entire body rippled with each strike. Aryll was on her way-but before she could start attacking, Ja'baraa recovered. "Ooooh...such spicy resistance!" he said, licking his grotesque chops, and launching more massive gold discs. "That's gotta be his weak spot," said Aryll, "all bosses have them, my brother said. Let's do it again!"

Mila nodded, and kept up dodging while Aryll went for the switches. However, after the first few discs, the air rippled around Ja'baraa-and Mila was pulled toward him by an unseen force. Caught totally unawares, she was pulled so much that she contacted the boss' repulsive slug flesh-and immediately recoiled away from his massive body in pain-apparently the thing's skin was so poisonous that a mere touch made her lose Heart. She rushed away from him immediately-for she heard a siren now. It sounded like it was coming from her own heartbeat, but she wasn't sure. She was sure of one thing though-if she felt Ja'baraa's touch again, she was done for. She made sure to watch carefully for this new attack from that moment on, and successfully dodged the discs and avoided the pull until Aryll once again hit all four switches.

The monster stunned again, Mila wasted no time. She opened with a Jump attack on the tongue as she approached, then hacked away at it furiously. Still...she was unable to finish the job, as Ja'baraa rose back up one more time. "Uuugggh..." it said, "so spicy! I can't wait any longer!" Suddenly, a hole opened below Mila's feet. She fell through, and somehow, she found herself falling from the ceiling-right towards Ja'baraa's open maw. She reached desperately out for the chandelier and just barely managed to get a grip with both arms. "Mila!" said Aryll through the stone, sounding rightfully concerned, "Are you okay, can you pull yourself up?"

Mila tried, briefly. "I can't," she said, calling out so that Aryll would hear.

"Then just hang on! I'll get the switches as fast as I can!"

Mila yelled out, "But, if I touch him one more time-"

"You won't touch him, even if you're dangling off the chandelier when I drop it," said Aryll. "Just hang on!"

"Okay!"

Ja'baraa was having none of this. "I won't allow it!" he said, sending the discs after Aryll now, though they were few and far apart since they had to travel further. The air rippled around him. Mila braced herself-and even though her grip was much stonger than her arms, her right hand loosened. Is this really it, this time...? She thought, then, No! I'm so close! I can't give up now...Aryll wouldn't, so no way will I! She grabbed back onto the chandelier with her right hand-just in time, for another pull made her lose grip with her left. She grabbed back on, then heard, "This is it!" from the stone. The chandelier dropped, then slowly retracted, and Mila, with supreme effort, swung and dropped herself from the chandelier so that she did not touch Ja'baraa. She hacked away at the tongue with a will, and after about the fifth blow, the head reared back, howling in pain. "Nooooo...spicy...TOO spicy! Too tough! I...I can't stomach this! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" His body hardened, turned to shadow-and imploded. A shower of rupees burst forth, not a one of a lesser denomination than red. At the center was a Heart Container. "Such a shame I can only carry 200," said Mila, scooping up the mentioned amount, "If I could have brought it all to father..."

"This..."said Aryll meanwhile, looking at the Heart Container. "The REAL shame is there's only one of these. Big Brother says that whoever touches it gets more Heart."

"Then both of you touch it," said a familiar, childish voice. The Fairy Queen appeared before them. "If you both touch it at the same time, you'll both get more Heart-and you won't get less than if only one of you got it. Both nodding, Aryll said, "On three...one, two, THREE!" They both touched it, and Aryll did an Item Get Pose-and to Mila's surprise, she mirrored Aryll's. Both of them felt their wounds instantly melt away. "This place will collapse soon...that meanie Saligula made it so you can't use the way you came in, and he jammed the exit warp. I'll unjam it, but first...Mila. What were you planning to do with the treasure, if you could have it all?"

"I'd give it to my father," Mila said without hesitation, "I'd hope that he'd start tracking down our old, sold off heirlooms, for one thing-after he buys a nice house of course. I...I've learned so much from being poor, but...if I could have a chance to bring things back to the way they were, for my family..."

The fairy queen smiled. "You've made dolly happy," she said, showing that the doll indeed now had a wide grin, "and people who do that should be rewarded. I'll give your father a chance to find the treasure. Aryll, when you see him, give him your shovel, along with this." Simultaneously, the Fairy Queen coalesced all the scattered rupees into a large, incredibly ornate treasure chest, and conjured a Treasure Chart, which she handed to Aryll. "You got the Land Treasure Chart! This chart shows where to dig for untold riches-naturally, X marks the spot!" said the item voice. Both these tasks completed, the chest closed and vanished, then the Fairy Queen made the exit warp appear...and Mila and Aryll stepped through.

Zelda Four Sacred Winds Book 1, The Legend Begins

Epilogue: No Time To Say Hello Goodbye

Windfall Island

After the tower had collapsed, it had faded away-and the original windmill ferris wheel faded in to retake its proper place. Every single resident of the island had escaped in time-Linebeck had organized the evacuation perfectly, and would need no proof of his courage for the islanders now. The instant Mila materialized, she found her father and embraced him. "Mila...my little Mila...is it true what Linebeck is saying? You've become a grown up hero? You're the one who saved us all?"

"I couldn't have done it without Aryll," she said, which made Aryll blush, "but other than that...it's true."

"Oh my darling...I'm so proud of you!" Her father tightened his embrace at this...but Mila was suddenly pulled away, encased in a sphere of light. "Wh...what's this?!"

"It makes dolly sad to break you two up," said the Fairy Queen, appearing to them all, "but Mila has dabbled in forbidden Fairy magic...this must be answered for." Mila rose skyward in the orb very quickly, saying, "Wait! At least let me say-" but by then, she was already speeding away from Windfall Island, "-goodbye..." With a look of sadness, but also of determination, she cast her gaze in the direction of her destination...Mother Isle.

THE END

OF

BOOK 1

TO BE CONTINUED

IN

BOOK 2: THE HERO OF LIFE


End file.
